Started on Jul 14, 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
- 22 miles northeast of Pendleton, OR
- Cause
- Human
- People working on it
- 159 people
- Complexity
- Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Tall Grass (2.5 feet)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSpotting — 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.
- Jurisdiction
- Private 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 private lands in Umatilla County, Oregon, the Lower Dry Creek Mutual Aid Fire has scorched 5,000 acres at a rate of approximately 185 acres per day over 27 days, driven by tall grass fuels reaching 2.5 feet in height. Located 22 miles northeast from Pendleton and near Milton-Freewater, the blaze has been fueled by minimal fire behavior and spotting.
A Type 3 Incident managed by a Type 2 Team, the wildfire has seen a response from 159 personnel working toward containment. Human activity was identified as the cause of the fire, which has accumulated costs totaling $893,878.10.
The incident unfolds against a broader national backdrop where 2,761,076 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a total that sits 50 percent below the two-decade average for a typical fire season that stretches from June to October.
In context
This wildfire burned in Oregon for 32 days. In total it burned about 5,000 acres — around 20 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 3,226,886 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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