Signal Peak Fire, Ahtanum, Washington

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 south of White Swan, WA

CauseHuman

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionBIA · Federal land

Cost so far$250,000

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

Burning across 3,000 acres near White Swan and Ahtanum in Yakima County, Washington, the human-caused Signal Peak Fire burned for 93 days after starting on July 24, 2026. The incident, managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Type 3 Incident with 6 personnel responding, finally ended after exhibiting minimal and smoldering fire behavior within short grass fuels on federal land. Over its nearly three-month duration, the fire averaged an approximate daily growth of 32 acres per day before achieving full containment at 100 percent, resulting in a total cost of about $250,000.

This incident unfolded during the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader wildfire context for 2026 shows that 3,450,653 hectares have burned so far, tracking 37 percent below the two-decade average.