Picture Rock Fire, Summer Lake, Oregon

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

Location3 miles north of Summer Lake, OR

CauseHuman

What's burningTall Grass (2.5 feet)

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

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

JurisdictionState land

Cost so far$2.0 million

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

Summary written on Aug 29, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across 1,228 acres of state-owned land in Lake County, Oregon, the Picture Rock Fire near Summer Lake has maintained a slow trajectory, averaging about 94 acres per day over its 13-day lifespan. Fire behavior is currently minimal, characterized by smoldering and creeping through 2.5-foot tall grass.

Containment has reached 100 percent, with five personnel managed under a Type 4 IC within a Type 3 Incident structure, bringing total costs to $1,950,000 for the human-caused blaze that started on August 16, 2026.

This event unfolds during a typical fire season that spans from June to October, while national figures show 3,126,257 hectares burned so far in 2026, placing the broader acreage 43% below the two-decade average.