King Fire, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 49

1,387Hectares3,427Acres49Days burning

Containment36%

Started on Aug 19, 2026. 64% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

65Active215Hotspots 48h827 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

King Fire (Washington) — Sentinel-2 true color

King Fire (Washington) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

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

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Active fires nearby3 · 100 km

6.3KM SThree Queens Fire9,575 acres · 33% contained 68KM SWWest Fork Fire310 acres · 16% contained 68KM NELittle Giant Fire173 k acres · 93% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 7 miles northeast of Snoqualmie Pass, WA
Complexity: Type 3 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: MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Jurisdiction: USFS · Federal 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.

Burning across the federal timberlands of Kittitas County, Washington, the active King Fire has now spent 41 days on the landscape, averaging an estimated 84 acres of daily growth to reach 3,427 acres. Situated seven miles northeast of Snoqualmie Pass, the incident is currently exhibiting minimal, smoldering, flanking, and creeping fire behavior in timber with litter and understory fuels.

With containment standing at 36 percent, the Type 3 incident is being managed by a Type 3 Team under the United States Forest Service (USFS), accumulating suppression costs of $9,000 since it started on August 19, 2026. This fire burns within a regional typical fire season that spans from June to October, unfolding during a broader national landscape where 3,304,390 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a total that sits 40 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 48 days. So far it has affected roughly 3,427 acres — about 14 km². Crews have contained 36% of the perimeter, but most of the fire line is still open.

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