Old House Branch Fire (WV)
True color
Fire (SWIR)
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire
Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.
Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).
Quick facts
- Location
- 1 Miles E from Hampden, WV
- Cause
- Human
- Personnel
- 6
- Complexity
- Type 4 Incident
- Fuel
- Hardwood Litter
- Behavior
- Minimal, Wind Driven Runs, Torching
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
After burning for 97 days at an average rate of 10 acres per day, the Old House Branch Fire near Hampden, West Virginia, has officially reached 100 percent containment. The blaze, which originated from human activity on private land, spanned 1,000 acres across Mingo County before crews successfully secured the perimeter.
Managed as a Type 4 incident with a six-person team, the fire was characterized by minimal activity, occasional wind-driven runs, and torching within the hardwood litter. Operations to suppress the fire, which began on April 10, 2026, were completed at a total cost of $3,000.
In context
This wildfire burned in West Virginia for 123 days. In total it burned about 1,000 acres — around 4.0 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 3,005,648 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 45% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.