Hatch Grade Fire, Finley, Washington

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

Location6 miles southwest of Touchet, WA

What's burningTall Grass (2.5 feet)

How it's behavingMinimal

ComplexityType 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$140,000

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 across 9,584 acres of private land featuring tall grass standing 2.5 feet high, the Hatch Grade Fire near Finley and 6 miles southwest of Touchet in Walla Walla County, Washington, has officially ended after a 27-day run that saw an approximate average daily growth of 355 acres per day since it started on September 29, 2026.

By the time the incident reached 100 percent containment, a Type 4 Incident response involving 60 personnel managed the minimal fire behavior, bringing total costs to about $140,000.

The blaze unfolded during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October, amid a broader national landscape where 3,450,653 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 37 percent below the two-decade average.