Sisi Fire, Washington (2026) — Map & Containment

This fire in numbersDay 54

1,768Hectares4,368Acres54Days burning

Containment29%

Started on Aug 14, 2026. 71% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

65Active215Hotspots 48h827 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Sisi Fire (Washington) — Sentinel-2 true color

Sisi Fire (Washington) — 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

Active fires nearby4 · 100 km

37KM SLittle Giant Fire173 k acres · 93% contained 56KM NWElectric Fire495 acres · 90% contained 60KM NWLuna Fire8,553 acres · 42% contained 68KM NPtarmigan Fire25,166 acres · 75% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 10 miles northwest of Stehekin, WA
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 34 people
Complexity: Type 2 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Timber (Litter and Understory)
How it's behaving: ModerateSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.Flanking — Grows along the sides, not head-on.
Jurisdiction: USFS · Federal 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 across 4,368 acres in Chelan County, Washington, the active Sisi Fire has been on the landscape for 53 days since its natural ignition on August 14, 2026, averaging an estimated 82 acres of growth per day. Located 10 miles northwest of Stehekin, the incident is managed by a Complex Incident Management Team with 34 personnel deployed under USFS jurisdiction on federal land, where current fire behavior is characterized by moderate activity, smoldering, backing, and flanking through timber, litter, and understory fuels.

Operational efforts on this Type 2 incident have achieved 29 percent containment as suppression costs reach $9,400,000. In the immediate vicinity, satellite monitoring via NASA FIRMS picked up a single heat detection over the past 48 hours, illustrating the current footprint of the active fire zone.

This event unfolds within a regional fire season that typically spans from June to October. Nationally, the broader context shows 3,323,241 hectares burned so far in 2026, tracking 39 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 53 days. So far it has affected roughly 4,368 acres — about 18 km². Crews have contained 29% of the perimeter, but most of the fire line is still open.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.