Mcconnell Fire (Nevada)

Active · 83% contained · 33,231 acres · started 2026-08-25 · updated 2026-09-06

Mcconnell Fire (Nevada) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True color Fire (SWIR)

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True color (left): as the eye sees it.
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire

Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.

Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).

Quick facts

Location: 3 Miles E from Orovada, NV
Cause: Natural
Personnel: 257
Complexity: Type 3 Incident
Fuel: Short Grass (1 foot)
Behavior: Minimal, Smoldering, Creeping
Jurisdiction: BLM · Federal land

Burning for 12 days at an average daily growth of approximately 2,769 acres per day, the active McConnell Fire has scorched 33,231 acres of federal land in Humboldt County, Nevada. Located three miles east of Orovada, the blaze is currently exhibiting minimal, smoldering, and creeping behavior through one-foot short grass fuels. Despite these stubborn conditions, fire suppression efforts managed by a Complex Incident Management Team have brought containment to 83 percent.

Operations on the ground are supported by 257 personnel working under a Type 3 Incident designation, with total costs reaching $8,700,000 for the Bureau of Land Management response. The naturally caused fire is situated within a broader regional context where the typical fire season runs from June to October, aligning with a national landscape that has seen 3,178,795 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 42 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Nevada for 13 days. So far it has affected roughly 33,231 acres — about 134 km². About 83% 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.