Started on Sep 16, 2026.
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
Active fires nearby1 · 100 km
Quick facts
- Location
- 6 miles east of Simpson, LA
- People working on it
- 7 people
- Complexity
- Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Grass and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- Minimal, Single Tree TorchingCrowning — Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.
- 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 across private timber lands in Vernon County, the Gordie Branch Fire near Simpson, Louisiana, has burned 271 acres over a grueling 16-day period, averaging an approximate growth of 17 acres per day. Despite challenging behavior that included minimal activity, crowning, and single tree torching within grass and understory fuel, firefighting efforts involving seven personnel under a Type 5 Incident management structure have successfully brought the incident to 100 percent containment. The total cost to suppress the fire reached $4,961.06.
This persistent Louisiana fire unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader national scale, the incident contributes to a 2026 fire season that has seen 3,318,049 hectares burn across the country so far, a figure tracking 39 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Louisiana for 19 days. In total it burned about 271 acres — around 1.1 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 3,368,453 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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