Gold Mountain Fire, Ouray, Colorado (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 80

16,085Hectares39,747Acres80Days burning

Containment92%

Started on Jun 27, 2026. 8% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

101Active205Hotspots 48h1.4 MHectares

Last 7 days · steady

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Gold Mountain Fire (Colorado) — Sentinel-2 true color

Gold Mountain Fire (Colorado) — 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

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Active fires nearby1 · 100 km

30KM EElk Fire7,257 acres · 73% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 2 miles north of Ouray, CO
People working on it: 8 people
Complexity: Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Short Grass (1 foot)
How it's behaving: Minimal, Single Tree TorchingCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Jurisdiction: USFS · Federal land

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.

Seventy days after its June 27 start, the active Gold Mountain Fire burning near Ouray, Colorado, has consumed 39,747 acres of federal land managed by the USFS in Ouray County. The fire has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 568 acres per day. Satellites are picking up an intense heat signature.

Currently, fire behavior is characterized as minimal, featuring single tree torched areas, smoldering, and creeping through short grass fuels measuring one foot in height. Containment has reached 92 percent under a Type 3 Incident management structure led by a Type 3 Incident Commander, supported by a modest personnel force of 64 individuals and a cumulative cost of $64,860,718.

This event unfolds within the context of a regional fire season that typically spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader wildfire landscape reveals that 3,177,542 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 42 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Colorado for 79 days. So far it has affected roughly 39,747 acres — about 161 km². At 92% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.