Three Queens Fire, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 83

3,875Hectares9,575Acres83Days burning

Containment33%

Started on Jul 16, 2026. 67% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

65Active481Hotspots 48h827 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

All United States wildfires

Three Queens Fire (Washington) — Sentinel-2 true color

Three Queens 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 nearby3 · 100 km

6.3KM NKing Fire3,427 acres · 36% contained 62KM SWWest Fork Fire310 acres · 16% contained 74KM NELittle Giant Fire173 k acres · 93% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: 6 miles east of Snoqualmie Pass, WA
Cause: Natural
People working on it: 29 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 across federal timber land in Kittitas County, Washington, the active Three Queens Fire has now been on the landscape for 75 days since starting naturally on July 16, 2026. Located six miles east of Snoqualmie Pass, the Type 3 incident is managed by an 80-person USFS Type 3 team and has grown by an average of roughly 128 acres per day, reaching 9,575 acres with 33 percent containment.

Current fire behavior is described as minimal, smoldering, and creeping through timber litter and understory fuels. Despite its prolonged duration and a mounting cost of $63,700,999, the wider context of the 2026 fire season shows that the national burned area remains 40 percent below the two-decade average, with 3,304,390 hectares burned so far during a typical fire season that spans from June to October.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Washington for 82 days. So far it has affected roughly 9,575 acres — about 39 km². Crews have contained 33% 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.