Old 66 Fire, New Mexico (2026) — Map & Containment

This fire in numbersDay 179

1,484Hectares3,668Acres179Days burning

Containment99%

Started on Mar 27, 2026. 1% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

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Old 66 Fire (New Mexico) — Sentinel-2 true color

Old 66 Fire (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

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location: 1 miles south of San Jon, NM
People working on it: 3 people
Complexity: Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Short Grass (1 foot)
How it's behaving: MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
Jurisdiction: Private land

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.

Burning across private lands consisting of short grass about a foot tall, the Old 66 Fire is located one mile south of San Jon, New Mexico, in Quay County. The incident has been active for 173 days since it started on March 27, 2026, maintaining an approximate average daily growth of 21 acres per day and reaching a total size of 3,668 acres.

Fire behavior is currently minimal and smoldering. Despite the long duration of the incident, containment has reached 99 percent. Operations are being handled by a Type 4 Incident management team with three personnel assigned, and the total cost of the response has reached $250,000.

This fire occurs within a broader national context where 3,226,886 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 41 percent below the two-decade average. In this region, the typical fire season runs from June to October.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in New Mexico for 178 days. So far it has affected roughly 3,668 acres — about 15 km². At 99% containment, the fire is nearly under control.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.