Grasshopper Fire, Wamic, Oregon

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

Location14 miles southwest of Dufur, OR

CauseNatural

What's burningBrush (2 feet)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$141.0 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

Burning for 68 days across Wasco County, Oregon, the Grasshopper Fire has expanded at an average daily growth of approximately 1,382 acres per day, totaling 93,972 acres of federal land in brush up to two feet tall. Situated 14 miles southwest of Dufur and near Wamic, the active blaze is managed by a Complex Incident Management Team from the USFS with 204 personnel, and it has reached 98 percent containment while burning with minimal, smoldering, and creeping fire behavior.

Suppression efforts for this natural-cause fire have accumulated a cost of $126,755,398 under a Type 3 Incident complexity level. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows that 3,304,390 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 40 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Oregon for 95 days. So far it has affected roughly 93,972 acres — about 380 km². At 98% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

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