Unit 12 Middle Fire, Stowell, Texas

Yesterday's image: fire shows in orange and red. NASA MODIS

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location30 miles south of Beaumont, TX

CauseNatural

What's burningTall Grass (2.5 feet)

How it's behavingActiveSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.

ComplexityType 4 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionUSFWS · Federal land

Cost so far$10,000

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 natural-cause Unit 12 Middle Fire near Stowell, Texas, in Jefferson County, burned 3,000 acres over a period of forty-five days, averaging approximately 67 acres per day before it finally ended. Located 30 miles south of Beaumont, the federal land incident burned through 2.5-foot tall grass with active and smoldering fire behavior. By the time operations concluded, the Type 4 incident achieved 50 percent containment under the management of the USFWS.

A team of 10 personnel responded to the emergency, which incurred an estimated cost of about $10,000. Across the country, the broader fire season—which typically runs from June to October—has seen 3,455,585 hectares burn so far in 2026, a figure that sits 37 percent below the two-decade average.