Started on Jun 20, 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
- 23 miles northeast of Delta Junction, AK
- Cause
- Natural
- Complexity
- Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
- What's burning
- Timber (Grass and Understory)
- How it's behaving
- ModerateSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Running — Runs along the ground much faster than a person walks.
- Jurisdiction
- DNR · State 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 for 95 days across Southeast Fairbanks, Alaska, the active Shaw Fire has expanded at an approximate rate of 36 acres per day, now encompassing 3,459 acres situated 23 miles northeast of Delta Junction. Currently managed as a Type 5 Incident by the DNR with a Type 5 IC under state land ownership, the fire behavior is characterized as moderate, smoldering, and running through timber consisting of grass and understory. Zero percent containment has been achieved since the natural-cause fire started on June 20, 2026, accumulating costs of 12,467 USD.
This incident unfolds during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Across the broader national landscape, 2026 has seen 3,270,726 hectares burned so far, a figure tracking 40% below the two-decade average.
In context
This wildfire burned in Alaska for 108 days. In total it burned about 3,459 acres — around 14 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 3,362,441 hectares have burned so far in 2026 — 39% 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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