Ranger Road Fire, Oklahoma — Map & Containment

Ranger Road Fire (Oklahoma) — Sentinel-2 true color

Ranger Road Fire (Oklahoma) — 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

Location1 mile southeast of Beaver, OK

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimal, Single Tree TorchingTorching — Whole trees flaring up 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$90,300

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 for 270 days since it started on February 17, 2026, the Ranger Road Fire near Beaver, Oklahoma, in Beaver County, has reached 100 percent containment after burning through 283,283 acres of private land. Over its lengthy course, the incident maintained an approximate average daily growth of 1,049 acres per day. Fire behavior is currently minimal, though past activity involved torching and single tree torching in short grass fuels standing about one foot tall.

Operations for this Type 5 Incident have been managed by a Type 5 Incident Commander with a minimal personnel team of 5 individuals. The total cost to manage the fire reached about $90,000, specifically totaling 90,300 USD. With the fire now safely contained, crews have successfully halted further spread across the affected area.

This event unfolds within a broader national context where 3,540,413 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 35% below the country's two-decade average. This occurs despite the region's typical fire season running from June to October, demonstrating an unusual timeline for fire activity in Oklahoma.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Oklahoma for 270 days. So far it has affected roughly 283,283 acres — about 1,146 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.