Mill Pond Fire, Telogia, Florida

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

Location3 miles south of Telogia, FL

CauseHuman

What's burningSouthern Rough

How it's behavingMinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.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.

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$1.4 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 Sep 4, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across Liberty County, Florida, the Mill Pond Fire near Telogia has maintained a steady trajectory over its remarkable 169-day lifespan, creeping across federal southern rough fuels at an approximate average daily growth rate of 10 acres per day. Despite burning 1,760 acres since it started on March 19, 2026, the human-caused wildfire has achieved full containment, with behavior currently characterized as minimal, creeping, and smoldering under the management of a Type 4 Incident Commander and Type 3 Incident.

Operations on the ground are supported by a modest team of nine personnel overseen by the USFS, reflecting the reduced activity level of the incident as it holds steady at 100 percent containment. The total suppression cost for the federal land incident has reached $1,374,283.

This fire occurs during a broader national landscape where 3,177,542 hectares have burned so far in 2026, tracking 42 percent below the two-decade average, contrasting with the region's typical fire season which spans from June to October.