Little Giant Fire, Leavenworth, Washington

This fire in numbersDay 98

69,975Hectares173 kAcres98Days burning

Containment95%

Started on Jul 16, 2026. 5% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

38Active1,206Hotspots 48h513 kHectares

Last 7 days · falling

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Little Giant Fire (Washington) — Sentinel-2 true color

Little Giant 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 nearby4 · 100 km

37KM NSisi Fire4,743 acres · 34% contained 68KM SWKing Fire3,427 acres · 50% contained 74KM SWThree Queens Fire9,575 acres · 75% contained 93KM NLuna Fire8,553 acres · 42% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 30 miles northwest of Leavenworth, WA
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 83 people
Complexity: Type 2 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Timber (Grass 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.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
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 Chelan County in Washington, the active Little Giant Fire has scorched 172,912 acres of federal timber, grass, and understory land situated 30 miles northwest of Leavenworth. Satellites are picking up a moderate heat signature with seven NASA FIRMS heat detections over the past 48 hours, highlighting the ongoing activity of the 90-day-old blaze, which has averaged 1,921 acres of growth per day since its natural ignition on July 16, 2026.

Fire behavior is currently reported as minimal, characterized by smoldering, creeping, and backing. Despite these lower-intensity conditions, suppression and management efforts continue with a Complex Incident Management Team directing 209 personnel under the authority of the USFS. Costs for the Type 2 incident have reached $201,200,000, while containment has successfully progressed to 95 percent.

This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader scale, the national context shows that 3,372,253 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 38 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 97 days. So far it has affected roughly 172,912 acres — about 700 km². At 95% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

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