Started on May 23, 2026.
United States todayLive
Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus
Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS
Quick facts
- Location
- 56 miles southeast of Noorvik, 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
- Brush (2 feet)
- How it's behaving
- MinimalCreeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
- Jurisdiction
- USFWS · Federal 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 across the Northwest Arctic in Alaska, the active Thousand Fire has been monitored over a span of 71 days since its natural ignition on May 23, 2026. Located 56 miles southeast from Noorvik, the 409-acre federal wildfire under the management of the USFWS is currently exhibiting minimal, creeping, and backing fire behavior within two-foot brush fuel.
With zero percent containment and an approximate average daily growth of six acres per day, the incident is overseen by a Type 5 Incident Commander and a Type 5 Incident team. This active blaze unfolds against a broader national backdrop where 2,419,113 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 56 percent below the country's two-decade average, within a typical fire season that spans from June to October.
In context
This wildfire burned in Alaska for 73 days. In total it burned about 409 acres — around 1.7 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 3,368,453 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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