Palouse River Fire, Colfax, Washington

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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location2 miles east of Colfax, WA

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$208,214

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.

The story so far

Having burned a total of 637 acres over a span of 75 days, the Palouse River Fire near Colfax, Washington, in Whitman County, has now ended. The incident, which began on August 9, 2026, spread at an approximate average rate of 8 acres per day through short grass measuring one foot in height on private land.

Operations for this Type 3 Incident involved 57 personnel who managed the blaze until it reached 100 percent containment and ultimately ceased burning. Throughout the effort, fire behavior was observed as minimal and smoldering. The final cost to address the incident reached about $208,000, specifically totaling 208,214 USD.

This event unfolded within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. On a broader scale, a total of 3,455,585 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, placing the national burned area 37 percent below the two-decade average.