Jones Island Fire, Deland, Florida

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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location10 miles northwest of Deland, FL

CauseNatural

What's burningSouthern Rough

How it's behavingModerateBacking — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.

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

JurisdictionUSFWS · Federal land

Cost so far$10,000

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 a span of 91 days, the Jones Island Fire in Volusia County, Florida, consumed 700 acres roughly 10 miles northwest of Deland. The natural-cause blaze, managed by the USFWS as a Type 5 Incident on federal land, burned in southern rough fuel with a moderate, backing, and creeping fire behavior, averaging about 8 acres per day of growth. Operations involved a dedicated personnel team of 6, ultimately bringing the total cost of the response to about $10,000.

Now fully ended, the incident took place against the backdrop of Florida's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader national scale, the fire contributed to a total of 3,505,174 hectares burned across the country so far in 2026, a figure that remains 36% below the two-decade average.