Post Fire, Trinidad, Colorado — Map & Containment

Post Fire, Trinidad, Colorado — Sentinel-2 true color

Post Fire, Trinidad, Colorado — 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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location7 miles southeast of Trinidad, CO

CauseNatural

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Smoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

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

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$1.3 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

After burning across 4,335 acres of private land in Las Animas County, Colorado, the natural-cause Post Fire has officially ended following a 78-day run that began on August 12, 2026. Located seven miles southeast of Trinidad, the incident ultimately grew at an average rate of roughly 56 acres per day.

By the time full containment was reached at 100 percent, the Type 5 Incident had wrapped up operations involving a single personnel member at a total cost of about $1.3 million, specifically 1,260,873 USD. In its final stages, the fire behavior was characterized as minimal, creeping, smoldering, and showing isolated torching within short grass fuels standing about one foot tall.

This Colorado event concluded within a broader national landscape where 3,473,090 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 37 percent below the two-decade average for a typical fire season that spans from June to October.