Started on Sep 16, 2026.
United States todayLive
True view
Fire view
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
Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS
Quick facts
- Location
- 10 miles northeast of Truckee, CA
- People working on it
- 229 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Glossary: what each term means
Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.
Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Spreads with low, steady flames.
Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.
Fast and unpredictable.
Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
Grows along the sides, not head-on.
Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.
Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.
Whole trees flaring up like torches.
Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.
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.
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.
Burning for nine days through private timber, litter, and understory, the Floriston Fire near Floriston, California, has grown at an average daily rate of approximately 69 acres, culminating in a total footprint of 622 acres. Located 10 miles northeast of Truckee, California, in Nevada County, the incident is currently managed as a Type 4 Incident under a Type 4 IC structure with a committed force of 229 personnel.
Fire behavior on the incident is currently characterized as minimal, creeping, and exhibiting isolated torching. These subdued conditions have allowed suppression efforts to succeed, bringing the Floriston Fire to 100 percent containment. The total cost to date for managing the incident has reached $17,924,942.
This fire occurs against a broader national backdrop for the typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Across the country, 3,273,976 hectares have burned so far in 2026, a figure that tracks 40 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in California for 19 days. In total it burned about 622 acres — around 2.5 km².
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.
The bigger picture in United States
Across United States, roughly 3,347,504 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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