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
Key facts
Source: NIFCGlossary: 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.
The story so far
Burning across 279 acres of private brush land in Shelby County, Alabama, the Oak Mountain State Park Fire was located 20 miles northwest of Pelham. Over its 31-day duration, the fire averaged an approximate daily growth of 9 acres per day following its start on September 22, 2026. The incident was managed as a Type 3 Incident with minimal fire behavior through the course of the response.
Operations concluded with the fire reaching 100 percent containment and ultimately ending. The suppression effort incurred a cost of about $3,000, equivalent to 2,500 USD. The local fire season typically runs from June to October, aligning with the timing of this event.
Nationwide, 3,455,585 hectares have burned so far in 2026, placing the year's total burned area 37% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Alabama for 31 days. In total it burned about 279 acres — around 1.1 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 3,541,886 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 35% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
Alerts near Pelham
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