W Fork Evans Creek Fire, Shady Cove, Oregon (2026)

This fire in numbersDay 3

114Hectares281Acres3Days burning

Containment15%

Started on Oct 15, 2026. 85% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

39Active678Hotspots 48h566 kHectares

Last 7 days · steady

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W Fork Evans Creek Fire (Oregon) — Sentinel-2 SWIR

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

Red dots: heat detected by satellite in the last 48h. NASA FIRMS

Quick facts

Location: 10 miles northwest of Medford, OR
People working on it: 531 people
Complexity: Type 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Timber (Grass and Understory)
How it's behaving: ModerateBacking — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.
Jurisdiction: Private 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 private lands in Jackson County, the active W Fork Evans Creek Fire is located 10 miles northwest of Medford, Oregon, near Shady Cove, and has been burning for two days since its start on October 15, 2026. The incident has maintained an average daily growth of approximately 141 acres per day, accumulating a total size of 281 acres with 15% containment. Satellites are picking up a moderate heat signature, with 8 heat detections registered nearby over the past 48 hours. Fire behavior is currently characterized as moderate and backing, consuming timber consisting of grass and understory fuel within the region's typical June to October fire season.

A Type 3 Incident is underway, managed by a Type 3 Incident Commander directing a response force of 531 personnel. Suppression efforts thus far have accumulated a total cost of 300,000 USD. This incident unfolds within a broader national landscape where 3,394,363 hectares have burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that is 38% below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Oregon for 2 days. So far it has affected roughly 281 acres — about 1.1 km². Crews have contained 15% 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.