01 · The continental view
A fire year with two geographies
In the United States, the season opened with unusually large grass and rangeland fires across the central Plains before expanding into the Great Basin and Pacific Northwest. In Canada, thousands of fires accumulated from spring into summer across a much larger northern landscape.
On the mapOrange circles are U.S. incident locations of at least 100 acres. Red outlines show selected large U.S. perimeters. Gold polygons are Canadian Fire M3 estimates.
Why filter at 100 acres?The U.S. year-to-date system contains tens of thousands of records. The threshold keeps the continental pattern readable while the charts still count every mapped wildfire record.
02 · January–April
The season started on the Plains
Before the western summer fire season took hold, wind and dry fuels drove very large incidents through grasslands. Nebraska’s Morrill Fire was reported at more than 642,000 acres; Oklahoma’s Ranger Road Fire exceeded 283,000 acres.
Fast fuelGrass can dry quickly, ignite readily, and carry flames over long distances under wind. Large acreage does not necessarily mean the same intensity or ecological effect as a forest fire.
Read the datesThis view isolates U.S. discoveries through April 30. It shows why “wildfire season” is not a single western-summer event.
03 · May–June
Fire moved into the interior West
By early summer, the largest new incidents clustered through Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and neighboring states. The Babylon, Aspen Acres, Cottonwood, Meade Lake, and Ferris fires each grew beyond roughly 60,000 acres.
Terrain enters the storySteep slopes, broken access, and mixed fuels complicate suppression. Perimeters become operational snapshots rather than fixed boundaries.
Acreage is revisedIncident size can change after better mapping. A mapped boundary is best treated as the most current estimate available—not a surveyed edge.
04 · Canada
A vast season seen from orbit
Canada reported 4,793 fires and 4.1 million hectares burned by August 18. The mapped layer here comes from the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System’s Fire M3 program, which groups thermal detections into season-to-date perimeter estimates.
What M3 showsSatellites repeatedly detect heat. CWFIS processes those observations into estimated fire polygons—especially valuable across remote regions where field mapping may be limited.
What it does not showM3 area should not be substituted for the official national burned-area total. Cloud, smoke, sensor timing, and the buffering method affect the mapped estimate.
Open the official CWFIS map ↗
05 · July–August
The Northwest became the center of gravity
Oregon’s Big Grass, Crosswhite, and Coleman Creek fires dominated the acreage table. In Washington, Little Giant and Sinlahekin each exceeded 160,000 acres, while long-duration incidents drew large numbers of personnel.
ConcentrationBy September 4, Oregon led the WFIGS mapped-incident acreage totals. Washington, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California also formed a broad western belt of activity.
Extreme growthThe September outlook described an August 1 wind event that produced rapid growth across several Washington incidents.
06 · Oregon case study
Rowe Creek became a defining fire of 2026
Lightning ignited the fires that became the Rowe Creek Complex on July 15. In less than two weeks, several large fires merged across north-central Oregon. By September 4, the complex was mapped at 373,927 acres and 99% contained, with 902 personnel still assigned.
Rapid expansionThe complex grew from 126,978 acres and 0% containment on July 19 to 294,900 acres by July 28 as Crosswhite, Brewer, Green Mountain, and nearby fires joined into a much larger footprint.
Communities and corridorsCrews defended homes and reinforced lines near Mitchell, Fossil, the John Day River, and U.S. Highway 26. Closures affected roads, public lands, and units of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.
The map now centers tightly on the Rowe Creek footprint. The pale focus ring marks the complex near its Crosswhite origin point; select it for the September 4 acreage and containment snapshot. The surrounding perimeter also shows why a “complex” can be difficult to summarize: names, component fires, acreages, and management boundaries change as incidents merge.
Read the September 4 Rowe Creek update ↗
07 · The live edge
Current is not the same as complete
The Esri Living Atlas USA Current Wildfires layer shows incidents updated within the last seven days and refreshes every 15 minutes. It is the right layer for present conditions—but it intentionally drops older incidents and therefore cannot describe the entire 2026 season by itself.
Live feedThe map now switches to the Living Atlas current incident and perimeter layers. Select a fire for its latest acreage, containment, discovery date, and source location.
Operational cautionContainment is the percentage of a fire perimeter expected to hold. It does not mean the interior is extinguished or that nearby hazards have ended.
View the Living Atlas item ↗
08 · Beyond the perimeter
Smoke turns local fires into regional events
A perimeter maps burning ground; it does not map the full impact. Fine-particle smoke can travel hundreds or thousands of miles, changing air quality far from the incident that produced it.
Check conditionsThe AirNow Fire and Smoke Map combines regulatory monitors, temporary sensors, smoke plumes, and fire detections for public-health context.
Protect healthChildren, older adults, pregnant people, and people with heart or lung conditions face greater risk, though heavy smoke can affect anyone.
Open the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map ↗
09 · September and beyond
The season is still being written
The September outlook kept above-normal significant-fire potential across much of the Northwest, northern California, parts of the Great Basin, the southern Plains, and several other areas. Cooler weather and precipitation can reduce activity quickly—but drought and wind can reverse that relief.
Forecast, not prediction“Above normal potential” describes conditions favorable for significant fires across a region. It does not predict that a specific community will burn.
Return to this mapThe live U.S. layers and 2026 year-to-date services continue to update. The national snapshots and written interpretation are dated.
Read the NIFC outlooks ↗