Started on May 16, 2026.
United States todayLive
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Fire view
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
- 14 miles northwest of Boise City, OK
- Cause
- Natural
- People working on it
- 3 people
- Complexity
- Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Short Grass (1 foot)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.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.
- Jurisdiction
- Private 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 Cimarron County, the Sharpe Fire has charred 29,209 acres of private land situated 14 miles northwest of Boise City, Oklahoma, since its natural ignition on May 16, 2026. Over an unusually protracted span of 123 days burning through short grass standing one foot tall, the incident has maintained an approximate average daily growth of 237 acres.
Fire behavior is currently minimal, characterized by smoldering and spotting as suppression efforts reach a full 100 percent containment under the direction of a Type 5 Incident Command consisting of three personnel. The operation has accumulated a total cost of $358,730.
This prolonged activity unfolds during a regional fire season that typically spans from June to October. On a broader national scale, 3,226,886 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a total that is 41% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Oklahoma for 126 days. In total it burned about 29,209 acres — around 118 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 3,266,178 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 40% below the two-decade average. Data from Copernicus GWIS.
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Community reports
Reports from people near the fire · unverified
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Not official emergency information. In an emergency, contact fire services/authorities.
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