High Lava Fire, Yacolt, Washington

True view Fire view

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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

Location11 miles northwest of Stabler, WA

CauseNatural

What's burningTimber (Litter and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

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

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$18.5 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 99 days across federal timberland near Yacolt, Washington, the natural-caused High Lava Fire ultimately consumed 2,899 acres before finally coming to an end. Located 11 miles northwest of Stabler in Skamania County, the incident burned with minimal, smoldering, creeping, and backing behavior through litter and understory fuels, averaging an approximate daily growth of 29 acres per day.

Managed by the USFS as a Type 3 Incident with a team of 4 personnel, the operation concluded with full containment reaching 100 percent. The total cost to suppress the fire reached about $18.5 million (18,500,000 USD).

This fire unfolded during the region's typical fire season, which spans from June to October. Across the country, a broader context shows that 3,475,756 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 37% below the two-decade average.