Henderson Fire, OCEANSIDE, California (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 2

452Hectares1,118Acres2Days burning

Containment0%

Started on Oct 15, 2026. 100% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

42Active673Hotspots 48h793 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Henderson Fire (California) — NASA satellite

Yesterday's image: fire shows in orange and red. NASA MODIS

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

Quick facts

Location: 3 miles north of OCEANSIDE, CA
People working on it: 407 people
Complexity: Type 3 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: Active, Uphill RunsWind Driven Runs — The wind pushes it in long runs in one direction.
Jurisdiction: 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.

Driven by wind and moving in uphill runs through one-foot short grass, the active Henderson Fire has expanded to 1,118 acres in San Diego County, California, located three miles north of Oceanside. Satellites are picking up a moderate cluster of eight heat detections near the perimeter over the past 48 hours, highlighting the ongoing footprint of the blaze on federal land.

A team of 407 personnel is currently managing the incident as a Type 3 Incident with zero containment reported thus far. The fire behavior remains active, fueled by dry conditions during the regional fire season that typically runs from June to October. Operations have accumulated a cost of $500,000 under the direction of a Type 3 Incident Commander.

Across the country, the broader wildfire landscape shows 3,388,378 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 38% below the two-decade average for the nation.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in California for 1 day. So far it has affected roughly 1,118 acres — about 4.5 km². Crews report no containment yet, so the fire can still spread.

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