Started on Aug 17, 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
Quick facts
- Location
- 22 miles southeast of White River, AZ
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 32 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Grass and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.
- Jurisdiction
- BIA · 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 timber, grass, and understory on federal land overseen by the BIA, the Paddy Creek Fire has steadily worked its way across Apache County, Arizona, located 22 miles southeast of White River. Over a 23-day burning period, the fire maintained an approximate average daily growth of 29 acres per day, ultimately reaching a total size of 668 acres. Fire behavior is currently minimal and smoldering as of August 17, 2026.
Operations are currently being managed by a Type 4 Incident command structure with a total of 32 personnel assigned to the natural-cause fire. Response efforts and suppression activities have accumulated a total cost of $800,000. Through the concerted efforts of the incident management team, the Paddy Creek Fire has reached 100% containment and is classified as contained.
This incident unfolds against the backdrop of Arizona's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader national scale, 3,195,047 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, tracking 42% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Arizona for 25 days. In total it burned about 668 acres — around 2.7 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 3,368,453 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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