Swiss Roll Fire, Pagosa Springs, Colorado (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 32

314Hectares777Acres32Days burning

Containment36%

Started on Aug 20, 2026. 64% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

85Active225Hotspots 48h1.3 MHectares

Last 7 days · falling

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Swiss Roll Fire (Colorado) — Sentinel-2 true color

Swiss Roll Fire (Colorado) — 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 nearby1 · 100 km

96KM NWElk Fire7,257 acres · 73% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 11 miles east of Pagosa Springs, CO
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 34 people
Complexity: Type 4 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: MinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.
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 for 31 days through timber, litter, and understory on federal land managed by the USFS, the natural-caused Swiss Roll Fire in Archuleta County, Colorado, has expanded at an average rate of approximately 25 acres per day to reach 777 acres, located 11 miles east of Pagosa Springs. Despite its month-long duration, current fire behavior on the active blaze is minimal, characterized by smoldering and creeping.

Containment efforts on the Type 4 incident have reached 36 percent, with 34 personnel assigned under a Type 4 Incident Commander, bringing total costs to $482,000. This fire burns within the region's typical fire season, which runs from June to October.

Nationwide, the broader landscape reflects a less destructive season, with 3,253,635 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 41% below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Colorado for 31 days. So far it has affected roughly 777 acres — about 3.1 km². Crews have contained 36% 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.