Started on Sep 29, 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
Quick facts
- Location
- 6 miles southwest of Touchet, WA
- People working on it
- 60 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Tall Grass (2.5 feet)
- How it's behaving
- Minimal
- 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 land six miles southwest of Touchet, Washington, in Walla Walla County, the Hatch Grade Fire has reached full containment after a 13-day run that saw the blaze consume 9,584 acres of 2.5-foot tall grass at an average daily growth of approximately 737 acres per day. With suppression efforts now successfully concluded, fire behavior has dropped to minimal.
A modest contingent of 60 personnel managed this Type 4 incident under a Type 4 Incident Commander, bringing the total cost of operations to $140,000. Despite the rapid spread during its active phase, the fire remained restricted to private lands in the Pacific Northwest region.
Regionally, the Hatch Grade Fire unfolded during Washington's typical fire season, which spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,368,499 hectares burned across the country so far in 2026, tracking 39% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 14 days. So far it has affected roughly 9,584 acres — about 39 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
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 3,368,499 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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