Started on Jun 21, 2026.
United States todayLive
True view
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
- 55 miles northwest of Eagle, AK
- Cause
- Natural
- Complexity
- Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- ModerateBacking — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- NPS · Federal 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 3,185 acres of federal timber within Southeast Fairbanks, Alaska, the active Kathul Fire has been sustained for 50 days since its natural ignition on June 21, 2026, averaging approximately 64 acres of daily growth. Located 55 miles northwest of Eagle, the zero-percent contained Type 5 incident currently exhibits moderate, backing, and isolated torching behavior in litter and understory fuels.
Nationwide, the broader seasonal context shows 2,761,076 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 50% below the two-decade average for a typical fire season that spans from June to October.
Management of the Kathul Fire is currently under a Type 5 Incident Command led by the National Park Service.
In context
This wildfire burned in Alaska for 52 days. In total it burned about 3,185 acres — around 13 km².
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 3,362,441 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
We'll email you if it grows, if it gets more contained, or if it goes out.
At most one alert every 6 hours, and only when something changes.
No account. One-click unsubscribe. · Privacy
Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Be the first to report what is happening →
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
More fires in Alaska
- Shaw FireEnded
- Mukluk FireEnded
- Tatlanika FireEnded
- Pogo FireEnded
- Bear FireEnded
- Canyon FireEnded