Ward Fire, Ely, NV, Nevada — Map & Containment

Ward Fire, Ely, NV, Nevada — Sentinel-2 true color

Ward Fire, Ely, NV, Nevada — 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

Key facts

Source: NIFC

Location6 miles south of Ely, NV

CauseNatural

What's burningTimber (Litter and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Creeping — Moves slowly, hugging the ground.Isolated Torching — Single scattered trees flaring up whole, like torches.

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

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$14.6 million

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

Burning across federal timberlands in White Pine County, Nevada, the Ward Fire near Ely was finally brought to a close after a prolonged 91-day campaign that saw it spread at an approximate rate of 95 acres per day. The natural-start fire, managed under a Type 1 Incident complexity by the USFS with a lean crew of 2 personnel, consumed a total of 8,683 acres before reaching 100 percent containment and ultimately ending.

During its lengthy run, the fire burned primarily through timber litter and understory, eventually settling into minimal, smoldering, creeping, and isolated torching fire behavior as suppression efforts took hold. The total cost to manage the multi-month incident reached about $14.6 million.

This lengthy incident unfolded amid a broader national fire year that has seen 3,473,090 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure 37 percent below the two-decade average for the country. The fire occurred within the region's typical fire season, which traditionally spans from June to October.