Started on Jun 24, 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
- 35 miles southeast of Kaltag, AK
- Cause
- Natural
- Complexity
- Type 5 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
- MinimalFlanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.
- Jurisdiction
- DNR · State 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 the Yukon-Koyukuk county in Alaska, the Mud Fire has now been active for 47 days since starting on June 24, 2026, averaging approximately 38 acres of growth per day. Located 35 miles southeast of Kaltag, the natural-cause fire spans 1,788 acres of state-owned timber, specifically feeding on litter and understory fuels.
Currently exhibiting minimal, flanking, and isolated torching fire behavior, the incident remains at zero percent containment. The response is being managed by a Type 5 Incident Command under the direction of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
This fire occurs during Alaska's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Across the broader national picture, 2,761,076 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a total that is 50 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Alaska for 90 days. In total it burned about 1,788 acres — around 7.2 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 3,362,441 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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