Stallion Fire, Nixon, Nevada — Map & Containment

Stallion Fire, Nixon, Nevada — Sentinel-2 true color

Stallion Fire, Nixon, Nevada — 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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location10 miles west of Nixon, NV

CauseHuman

What's burningShort Grass (1 foot)

How it's behavingMinimal, Single Tree TorchingSmoldering — 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.

JurisdictionPrivate land

Cost so far$4.1 million

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

The human-caused Stallion Fire in Washoe County, Nevada, located 10 miles west of Nixon, burned across private land for 74 days after starting on August 10, 2026, before finally ending. Throughout its duration, the fire maintained an average daily growth of about 550 acres per day, ultimately reaching a total size of 40,691 acres in a region where the typical fire season runs from June to October.

During its final stages, incident response involved 15 personnel managing a Type 3 Incident as the fire behavior transitioned to minimal, smoldering, and single tree torching in short grass fuels measuring one foot. The firefighting efforts successfully brought the incident to 98 percent containment.

The cost to suppress the Stallion Fire reached about $4.1 million, specifically recorded at 4,115,184 USD. This event unfolded within a broader national context where 3,455,585 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that sits 37 percent below the two-decade average.