Floriston Fire, California — Map & Containment

Floriston Fire, California — Sentinel-2 true color

Floriston Fire, California — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True view Fire view

⟷

True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location10 miles northeast of Truckee, CA

What's burningTimber (Litter and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

ComplexityType 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$17.9 million

Glossary: what each term means

Minimal

Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.

Smoldering

Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

Creeping

Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

Moderate

Spreads with low, steady flames.

Active

Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.

Extreme

Fast and unpredictable.

Running

Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

Flanking

Grows along the sides, not head-on.

Backing

Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

Crowning

Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.

Short Crown Runs

Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.

Torching

Whole trees flaring up like torches.

Isolated Torching

Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

Group Torching

Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.

Spotting

Wind carries embers through the air and starts new fires ahead of the front: that is how a fire jumps a road or a firebreak.

Wind Driven Runs

The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.

The ones marked ● are the behaviors that make a fire harder to stop. They are not a warning or an instruction: they are the description written by the agency in charge. For decisions, always follow your emergency services.

The story so far

The Floriston Fire, which burned across California near the city of Floriston and 10 miles northeast from Truckee in Nevada County, has officially ended after a remarkable 36-day run. Across its duration, the incident averaged a steady daily growth of about 17 acres per day, ultimately consuming a final measured footprint of 622 acres of private timber land characterized by litter and understory fuel.

Because the fire is now fully extinguished and its status is ended, response operations have concluded. At the height of the effort, a dedicated workforce of 229 personnel managed the Type 4 Incident as it exhibited minimal, creeping fire behavior with occasional isolated torching. Suppression efforts for the Floriston Fire carried a total financial cost of about $17.9 million, specifically recorded at 17,924,942 USD.

This incident unfolded within the regional bounds of the typical fire season, which spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader wildfire landscape in 2026 has seen a total of 3,442,406 hectares burned so far, a figure tracking 37% below the country's two-decade average.