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Rustler Fire (Texas)

Ended · 85% containedCrews stopped it spreading on 85% of the perimeter. Not the same as out, and not 85% burned. · 1,834 acres (742 hectares) · Started · Updated

This fire in numbers4 days
742Hectares1,834Acres4Days it lasted
Containment85%

Started on Aug 22, 2026.

United States todayLive
105Active382Hotspots 48h1.4 MHectares
Last 7 days · steadyHow many named wildfires were burning on each of the last 7 days. It rises when there are more than on the earlier days.
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Rustler Fire (Texas) — Sentinel-2 true color Rustler Fire (Texas) — 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

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location
10 miles southwest of Roaring Springs, TX
Cause
Natural
People working on it
20 people
Complexity
Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning
Chaparral (6 feet)
How it's behaving
Minimal, Single Tree TorchingSpotting — 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.
Jurisdiction
SFS · Private land
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.

Burning through six-foot chaparral in Motley County, the active Rustler Fire has consumed 1,300 acres located 10 miles southwest of Roaring Springs, Texas. Driven by active fire behavior that includes isolated torching and spotting, the two-day-old incident is averaging approximately 650 acres of growth per day. Satellites have detected five heat signatures nearby over the past 48 hours, highlighting the extent of the fire's recent spread across private land.

Containment efforts have reached 60 percent as a response force of 62 personnel, operating under a Type 5 Incident management structure and a Type 5 Incident Commander from the SFS agency, works to suppress the natural-cause blaze. While the region's typical fire season spans from June to October, national figures indicate that 2,993,191 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a level that is 45 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire burned in Texas for 3 days. In total it burned about 1,834 acres — around 7.4 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 3,216,925 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 41% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.

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