Started on Aug 25, 2026.
United States todayLive
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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
Active fires nearby1 · 100 km
Quick facts
- Location
- 8 miles northwest of MCDERMITT, OR
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 75 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Brush (2 feet)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Flanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.
- Jurisdiction
- BLM · 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 5,444 acres of federal brush land in Malheur County, Oregon, the active Mitchell Springs Fire has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 1,815 acres per day over its three days burning. Located eight miles northwest of McDermitt, the Type 4 incident is currently 25 percent contained under the management of a Type 3 Incident Commander.
Fire behavior on the scene is characterized as moderate, smoldering, and flanking within two-foot brush fuels. Operations are supported by 89 personnel working under the Bureau of Land Management, with total costs reaching $490,000.
This natural-cause fire unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,126,257 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 43 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Oregon for 4 days. In total it burned about 5,444 acres — around 22 km².
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 3,368,499 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% 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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