Mateo Fire, Camp Pendleton, California

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

Location10 miles north of Camp Pendleton, CA

CauseHuman

What's burningChaparral (6 feet)

How it's behavingMinimalFlanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.Smoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionFederal land

Cost so far$2.1 million

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

Summary written on Aug 10, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across San Diego, California, ten miles north of Camp Pendleton, the Mateo Fire has consumed 1,335 acres of six-foot-tall chaparral on federal land after remaining active for 56 days with an average daily growth of approximately 24 acres. Satellites have registered three heat detections near the perimeter over the past 48 hours, while current fire behavior is characterized by minimal activity, flanking, and smoldering under a Type 3 incident command led by a Type 5 IC with 218 personnel assigned.

Human activity sparked the blaze on June 15, which has now reached 100 percent containment at a total cost of 2,119,000 USD. This incident unfolds within a broader regional context where the typical fire season spans from June to October. Nationally, 2,761,076 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 50 percent below the two-decade average.