Started on Aug 22, 2026. 78% of the perimeter still to contain.
United States todayLive
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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
- 15 miles north of Ronald, WA
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 44 people
- Complexity
- Type 3 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
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · Federal 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 25 days across Kittitas County, Washington, the active Goat Fire is currently holding at 22 percent containment while expanding at an approximate rate of 33 acres per day. Located 15 miles north of Ronald, the 815-acre blaze is managed by a Complex Incident Management Team as a Type 3 Incident, deploying 44 personnel to battle the flames in federal timberland dominated by litter and understory fuel. Current fire behavior is reported as minimal, smoldering, and showing isolated torching.
The natural-cause fire has accumulated costs reaching $1,800,000 under the oversight of the USFS. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which spans from June to October. On a broader national scale, 3,226,886 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 41 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 25 days. So far it has affected roughly 815 acres — about 3.3 km². Crews have contained 22% of the perimeter, but most of the fire line is still open.
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 3,226,886 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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