Mimms Fire, House, New Mexico — Map & Containment

Mimms Fire, House, New Mexico — Sentinel-2 true color

Mimms Fire, House, New Mexico — 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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location5 miles north of House, NM

CauseNatural

What's burningTall Grass (2.5 feet)

How it's behavingMinimal, Long-range SpottingRunning — Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.

ComplexityType 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionState land

Cost so far$1.5 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 7,093 acres of state-managed tall grass standing 2.5 feet high, the Mimms Fire near House, New Mexico, in Quay County has spent 113 days burning with minimal, running, and long-range spotting behavior. The fire expanded at an average daily growth of approximately 63 acres per day following its natural start on May 14, 2026.

Operations for the Type 4 Incident were managed by a Type 4 IC overseeing 64 personnel, successfully bringing the blaze to 100 percent containment at a total cost of $1,500,000.

This event unfolds amid a broader national context where 3,177,542 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 42 percent below the country's two-decade average, arriving ahead of the region's typical fire season running from June to October.