2026 Pope County, Illinois Wildfires

United StatesIllinois › Pope County

0 Active Fires
0 Acres Burning
3 2026 Season Fires ▲ +3 vs same period last year
36 2026 Season Acres ▲ +36 vs same period last year

Newest wildfires in Pope County

Mar 21 Started 6 acres 5 football fields Millstone Fire
Feb 28 Started 27 acres 21 football fields Bay City Fire
Feb 20 Started 3 acres 2 football fields Ragsdale Fire

Largest wildfires in Pope County this season

27 Acres 21 football fields Bay City Fire Smithland
6 Acres 5 football fields Millstone Fire Carrier Mills
3 Acres 2 football fields Ragsdale Fire Golconda

All 2026 Pope County Fires · 3 fires

A fire is listed here when it is located in Pope County. Each complex is counted once, through its parent: the parent carries the complex's acres, and its member fires are listed beneath it without being counted again. A fire that crossed a county line is listed with the acres that burned in Pope County, not its whole reported size. A fire located elsewhere that burned into Pope County is listed too, at its Pope County acres, and is not added to the Pope County fire counts. County lines come from a different boundary dataset than state lines, so Pope County's acres are counted along county lines and can differ a little at the edges from the figures on the state page.

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Fire Start date Containment Status Acres Center Ignition point
Bay City Fire Feb 28, 2026 Inactive 27 37.1486, -88.4514 37.1451, -88.4628
Millstone Fire Mar 21, 2026 Inactive 6 37.4766, -88.6735 37.4744, -88.6757
Ragsdale Fire Feb 20, 2026 Inactive 3 37.4245, -88.6746 37.4236, -88.6740
Totals 2026 Season Fires 3 Active Fires 0 Acres Burning 0 2026 Season Acres 36

Land cover · Pope County 2026

Burned acres in Pope County for the 2026 season, split by the kind of land that burned. Each figure counts the LANDFIRE 30 m cells inside a fire's latest mapped perimeter. The Fires tab carries the reported season acreage.

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Acres by cover type Acres in Pope County % of burned % of Pope County
Forest 22 56.5% 71.4%
Range (shrubland) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Grassland 10 26.0% 16.0%
Other 7 17.5% 12.6%
Measured acres in Pope County 39
Measured fires
Fire Reported acres Acres in Pope County Forest Range (shrubland) Grassland Other Unclassified
Bay City Fire 27 28 12 0 10 6 0
Millstone Fire 6 7 7 0 0 0 0
Ragsdale Fire 3 4 4 0 0 0 0
Reconciliation
Line Fires Acres
Counted fires 3 36
Offered to measurement 3 36
Complex roll-up residue 0
Fires with cells 3 36
Awaiting a perimeter 0 0
Awaiting measurement 0 0
Measurement errors 0 0
Smaller than one cell 0 0
Every cell outside Pope County 0 0
Measured acres in Pope County 3 39
Measured acres outside Pope County 0
Whole perimeter acres 39
Reported minus measured -3
Burned in from another county 0 0

Forest ownership · Pope County 2026

Burned forest acres in Pope County for the 2026 season, split by who owns the land. Owners are mapped for forestland, so every figure here counts burned cells whose LANDFIRE lifeform is Tree. The Fires tab carries the season acreage this site reports.

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Burned forest by owner Forest acres in Pope County % of burned forest % of Pope County's forestland
Public 6 27.0% 54.7%
Federal 6 27.0% 53.9%
State 0 0.0% 0.9%
Local (county, city) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Private 10 45.0% 45.3%
Family 10 45.0% 36.1%
Corporate 0 0.0% 9.2%
TIMO/REIT 0 0.0% 0.0%
Other private 0 0.0% 0.0%
Ownership not modeled 6 28.0%
Burned forest in Pope County 22
Fires by owner
Fire Forest acres in Pope County Federal State Local Tribal Private Not modeled
Bay City Fire 12 0 0 0 0 8 4
Millstone Fire 7 4 0 0 0 1 2
Ragsdale Fire 4 2 0 0 0 1 0

0 measured fires burned zero forest cells.

Reconciliation
Owner cells 100 22
Land cover Forest cells 100 22
Equal 100

Search Fires

🔥 Millstone Fire 2026
Started: Mar 21 6 acre
🔥 Bay City Fire 2026
Started: Feb 28 27 acre
🔥 Ragsdale Fire 2026
Started: Feb 20 3 acre