Mitchell Fire (Georgia)
Started on Aug 23, 2026.
United States todayLive
True view
Fire view
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
Quick facts
- Location
- 15 miles southeast of St George, GA
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 2 people
- Complexity
- Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Southern Rough
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.What does each term mean? →
- Jurisdiction
- USFWS · Federal land
Glossary: what each term means
Barely moving. Low, thin smoke.
Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
Spreads with low, steady flames.
Spreading evenly and steadily, with visible flame.
Fast and unpredictable.
Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
Grows along the sides, not head-on.
Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Climbs into the treetops and jumps crown to crown. It can't be attacked from the ground.
Climbs into the crowns in bursts and drops back down.
Whole trees flaring up like torches.
Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
Whole clumps of trees flaring at once.
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.
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 federal land in Ware County, Georgia, the Mitchell Fire has reached 100% containment after a five-day run that consumed 1,030 acres at an average daily growth rate of approximately 206 acres per day. Located 15 miles southeast of St George, the natural-cause fire was managed by the USFWS under a Type 5 Incident complexity with a small team of two personnel and a Type 5 IC. Fire behavior on the ground was minimal, characterized by smoldering and creeping through Southern Rough fuels, allowing suppression efforts to successfully lock down the perimeter at a total cost of $17,000.
This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader national scale, 2026 has seen 3,126,257 hectares burn so far, tracking 43% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in Georgia for 21 days. So far it has affected roughly 1,030 acres — about 4.2 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.
The bigger picture in United States
Across United States, roughly 3,216,670 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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