Highland Fire, Iowa Park, Texas

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

Location1 mile north of Iowa Park, TX

What's burningBrush (2 feet)

How it's behavingExtreme

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

JurisdictionSFS · Private 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.

The story so far

Summary written on Sep 13, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning with extreme behavior through two-foot brush on private land, the active Highland Fire has charred 622 acres in Wichita County, Texas, located one mile north of Iowa Park. Satellites are picking up five heat detections over the past 48 hours around the 85-percent-contained perimeter, illustrating the current extent of the spread.

A Type 3 Incident management team consisting of 17 personnel, led by a Type 4 Incident Commander from the SFS, is actively suppressing the blaze that started on September 12, 2026. The incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.

Broader wildfire activity across the country shows 3,213,890 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 41% below the two-decade average.