West Fork Fire, Texas (2026) — Map & Containment

This fire in numbersDay 1

162Hectares400Acres1Days burning

Containment15%

Started on Sep 21, 2026. 85% of the perimeter still to contain.

United States todayLive

84Active476Hotspots 48h1.3 MHectares

Last 7 days · falling

All United States wildfires

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

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

Active fires nearby1 · 100 km

68KM NWHydra Fire933 acres · 66% contained

Within 100 kmSee on map →

Quick facts

Location: McLennan County
Complexity: Type 5 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.
What's burning: Tall Grass (2.5 feet)
How it's behaving: Extreme
Jurisdiction: SFS · 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 land in McLennan, Texas, the active West Fork Fire has expanded to 800 acres since igniting on September 21, 2026. Fueling the rapid spread of this Type 5 Incident are 2.5-foot tall grasses that feed extreme fire behavior, leaving the perimeter entirely uncontained at 0 percent.

SFS is leading the response to the blaze, which unfolds against a regional backdrop where the typical fire season runs from June to October. Nationally, the broader wildfire landscape shows 3,259,929 hectares burned so far in 2026, marking a figure that remains 41 percent below the two-decade average.

In context

This wildfire has been burning in Texas for less than a day. So far it has affected roughly 400 acres — about 1.6 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.