Started on Aug 5, 2026.
United States todayLive
Yesterday's image: fire shows in orange and red. NASA MODIS
Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS
Quick facts
- Location
- 15 miles southeast of Hattiesburg, MS
- People working on it
- 3 people
- Complexity
- Type 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Southern Rough
- How it's behaving
- Minimal
- Jurisdiction
- USFS · 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 1,700 acres of federal land in Perry County, Mississippi, the active Range 39 Fire is located 15 miles southeast of Hattiesburg and has been on the landscape for three days. Despite averaging an approximate growth of 567 acres per day since it started on August 5, 2026, the incident currently exhibits minimal fire behavior within its southern rough fuel type.
Led by a Type 4 Incident Command under the USFS with a modest personnel of three, suppression efforts have pushed containment to 99 percent. The total cost to manage this Type 4 incident has reached $15,000.
This fire occurs within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 2,702,782 hectares burned so far in 2026, tracking 51% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Mississippi for 3 days. In total it burned about 1,700 acres — around 6.9 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 3,226,886 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
We'll email you if it grows, if it gets more contained, or if it goes out.
At most one alert every 6 hours, and only when something changes.
No account. One-click unsubscribe. · Privacy
Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Be the first to report what is happening →
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.