Mccully Fire, Baker City, Oregon (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 48

5,505Hectares13,604Acres48Days burning

Containment91%

Started on Aug 22, 2026. 9% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

49Active1,462Hotspots 48h802 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Mccully Fire (Oregon) — Sentinel-2 true color

Mccully Fire (Oregon) — 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 nearby2 · 100 km

96KM NNorth Cayuse Fire4,887 acres · 97% contained 98KM NHagen Fire61,380 acres · 99% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 22 miles northwest of Baker City, OR
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 63 people
Complexity: Type 4 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.
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 13,604 acres of federal timber, litter, and understory in Baker County, Oregon, the active Mccully Fire is located 22 miles northwest of Baker City. Over 25 days of burning, the blaze has averaged an approximate daily growth of 544 acres. Despite this trajectory, current fire behavior on the Type 4 incident is minimal and smoldering as crews achieve 91 percent containment.

A contingent of 84 personnel, operating under a Complex Incident Management Team and the USFS, has driven suppression costs to $34,543,000 since the fire started on August 22, 2026. This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,226,886 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 41 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Oregon for 47 days. So far it has affected roughly 13,604 acres — about 55 km². At 91% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

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