Kickapoo Creek Fire, Groverton, 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

Location16 miles east of Trinity, TX

What's burningTimber (Grass and Understory)

How it's behavingActiveFlanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.

ComplexityType 4 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

Burning in Trinity, Texas, the Kickapoo Creek Fire has reached 300 acres while under the management of the SFS as a Type 4 Incident. Active fire behavior is being driven by timber consisting of litter and understory across private land, with satellites picking up 5 heat detections in the past 48 hours to map the spread.

First reported on October 22, 2026, the active blaze is now 50 percent contained. The local wildfire activity occurs within a regional fire season that typically runs from June to October.

Nationwide, the broader landscape reflects a notably different scale of activity, with 3,442,406 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 37% below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Texas for 1 day. So far it has affected roughly 300 acres — about 1.2 km². About 50% of the perimeter is contained — over half is secured, though hotspots remain.

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