Wrights Spring Fire, Klamath Falls, Oregon

True view Fire view

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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

Location2 miles west of Sprague River, OR

CauseHuman

What's burningTimber (Grass and Understory)

How it's behavingMinimalSmoldering — Burning without flame, in the ground or in roots. Can flare up days later.Backing — Moves against the wind or downhill, which makes it slower.

ComplexityType 3 IncidentOfficial scale from 5 to 1: a Type 1 is the most complex in the country.

JurisdictionUSFS · Federal land

Cost so far$43.4 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 timber lands and grass understory near Sprague River, Oregon, the human-caused Wrights Spring Fire burned for 90 days following its start on August 5, 2026. Over the course of the incident, the fire maintained an average daily growth of about 613 acres per day, ultimately reaching a final size of 55,134 acres in Klamath County, near Klamath Falls.

A Type 3 Incident managed by the USFS with a single personnel recorded on the response, the fire exhibited minimal, smoldering, and backing behavior as suppression efforts progressed. Operations accumulated a total cost of about $43.4 million (43,418,794 USD) before the fire was fully contained and ultimately ended.

The wider context of the 2026 season shows that 3,478,679 hectares have burned across the country so far, tracking 37 percent below the two-decade average. This activity occurred within the region's typical fire season, which spans from June to October.