Rayado Mesa Fire (NM)
True color
Fire (SWIR)
Infrared / SWIR (right): sees through smoke.
🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 red/brown = burned
🟠 orange = active fire
Imagery: Sentinel-2 (Copernicus). Drag to compare smoke vs. infrared.
Heat detections: NASA FIRMS (last 48h).
Quick facts
- Location
- 5 Miles SW from Miami, NM
- Cause
- Natural
- Personnel
- 58
- Complexity
- Type 5 Incident
- Fuel
- Timber (Litter and Understory)
- Behavior
- Minimal, Creeping, Smoldering, Backing
- Jurisdiction
- Private land
Burning across private timberlands in Colfax County, New Mexico, the Rayado Mesa Fire has spent 18 days active on the landscape, averaging an estimated 52 acres of growth each day. Situated five miles southwest of Miami, the 934-acre incident has been fueled by litter and understory, exhibiting minimal, creeping, smoldering, and backing fire behavior.
A modest contingent of 58 personnel, operating under a Type 4 Incident Commander and classified as a Type 5 Incident, successfully brought the natural-caused blaze to 100 percent containment, accumulating a total cost of $1,248,137.21.
This incident unfolds during a regional fire season that typically spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader context reveals that 2,902,022 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 47 percent below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire has been burning in New Mexico for 18 days. So far it has affected roughly 934 acres — about 3.8 km². The perimeter is 100% contained.
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 2,902,022 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 47% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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