2026 Kentucky Wildfires
Newest wildfires in Kentucky
Largest wildfires in Kentucky this season
All 2026 Kentucky Fires · 5 fires
A fire is listed here when it is located in Kentucky. 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 the border is listed with the acres that burned in Kentucky, not its whole reported size. A fire located elsewhere that burned into Kentucky is listed too, at its Kentucky acres, and is not added to the Kentucky fire counts.
| Fire | County | Start date | Containment | Status | Acres | Center | Ignition point |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ste -Alum Fire | McCreary | Apr 12, 2026 | 93% | Inactive | 1,100 | 36.7581, -84.5262 | 36.7580, -84.5327 |
| Bsp -Fy26 Biso Rx -Newtie King Fire | McCreary | Mar 14, 2026 | — | Inactive | 1,088 | 36.6266, -84.5216 | 36.6270, -84.5221 |
| Sand Hill Road Fire | Rockcastle | Apr 2, 2026 | 0% | Inactive | 19 | 37.2824, -84.2411 | 37.2802, -84.2432 |
| Lon -Spice Lick Fire | Jackson | Apr 21, 2026 | — | Inactive | 15 | 37.5387, -83.9875 | 37.4926, -83.9958 |
| Kdf -Horse Lick #2 Fire | Jackson | Apr 15, 2026 | — | Inactive | 5 | 37.3357, -84.1299 | 37.3288, -84.1323 |
| Totals | 2026 Season Fires 5 | Active Fires 0 | Acres Burning 0 | 2026 Season Acres 2,227 |
Land cover · Kentucky 2026
Burned acres in Kentucky 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.
Forest ownership · Kentucky 2026
Burned forest acres in Kentucky 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.
Burn severity · Kentucky 2026
Burned acres in Kentucky for the 2026 season, split by how severely each cell of ground burned. Each figure counts the 30 m cells inside a fire's latest mapped perimeter, measured from satellite imagery. The Fires tab carries the reported season acreage.
Severity comes from the differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR), the same index the federal burn severity programs publish, classified with the standard thresholds.
This is an initial assessment. Trees keep dying for months after a burn, so severity in forest reads conservative until the official assessments arrive after the season.