2026 North Carolina Wildfires

0 Active Fires

0 Acres Burning

8 2026 Season Fires ▲ +3 (+60%) vs same period last year

2,911 2026 Season Acres ▼ -5,102 (-64%) vs same period last year

Newest wildfires in North Carolina

Jun 2 Started 667 acres Slightly smaller than Central Park Rose Bay Canal Fire

May 19 Started 670 acres Slightly smaller than Central Park Cadduggen Fire

Apr 16 Started 35 acres 27 football fields Flat Rattlesnake Fire

Largest wildfires in North Carolina this season

670 Acres Slightly smaller than Central Park Cadduggen Fire Atlantic

667 Acres Slightly smaller than Central Park Rose Bay Canal Fire Swanquarter

420 Acres 323 football fields Jumping Branch Fire Old Fort

407 Acres 313 football fields Tarkiln Ridge Fire Hayesville

350 Acres 269 football fields Poplar Fire Erwin

All 2026 North Carolina Fires · 8 fires

A fire is listed here when it is located in North Carolina. 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 North Carolina, not its whole reported size. A fire located elsewhere that burned into North Carolina is listed too, at its North Carolina acres, and is not added to the North Carolina fire counts.

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Fire	County	Start date	Containment	Status	Acres	Center	Ignition point
Cadduggen Fire	Carteret	May 19, 2026	100%	Inactive	670	34.9311, -76.3942	34.9260, -76.3853
Rose Bay Canal Fire	Hyde	Jun 2, 2026	100%	Inactive	667	35.4785, -76.3427	—
Jumping Branch Fire	McDowell	Mar 29, 2026	100%	Inactive	420	35.7333, -82.1407	—
Tarkiln Ridge Fire	Clay	Mar 23, 2026	90%	Inactive	407	35.1093, -83.8461	35.1077, -83.8445
Poplar Fire	Mitchell	Mar 23, 2026	100%	Inactive	350	36.1037, -82.3403	36.0990, -82.3414
Winding Stair A Fire	Macon	Feb 9, 2026	85%	Inactive	250	35.1328, -83.5251	35.1225, -83.5429
Fox Gap Fire	Swain	Mar 25, 2026	30%	Inactive	112	35.4610, -83.8630	35.4743, -83.9155
Flat Rattlesnake Fire	Macon	Apr 16, 2026	—	Inactive	35	35.0946, -83.2307	35.0913, -83.2176
Totals		2026 Season Fires 8	Active Fires 0	Acres Burning 0	2026 Season Acres 2,911

Land cover · North Carolina 2026

Burned acres in North Carolina 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 North Carolina	% of burned	% of North Carolina
Forest	2,293	78.9%	61.6%
Range (shrubland)	0	0.0%	0.3%
Grassland	545	18.8%	15.2%
Other	67	2.3%	22.9%
Measured acres in North Carolina	2,906	—	—

Measured fires

Fire	Reported acres	Acres in North Carolina	Forest	Grassland	Other
Cadduggen Fire	670	663	196	457	10
Rose Bay Canal Fire	667	662	557	77	28
Jumping Branch Fire	420	417	405	3	8
Tarkiln Ridge Fire	407	408	408	0	0
Poplar Fire	350	371	358	2	11
Winding Stair A Fire	250	241	227	6	8
Fox Gap Fire	112	113	111	0	2
Flat Rattlesnake Fire	35	32	32	0	0

Reconciliation

Line	Fires	Acres
Counted fires	8	2,911
Offered to measurement	8	2,911
Complex roll-up residue	—	0
Fires with cells	8	2,911
Awaiting a perimeter	0	0
Awaiting measurement	0	0
Measurement errors	0	0
Smaller than one cell	0	0
Every cell outside North Carolina	0	0
Measured acres in North Carolina	8	2,906
Measured acres outside North Carolina	—	0
Whole perimeter acres	—	2,906
Reported minus measured	—	5
Burned in from another state or province	0	0

Forest ownership · North Carolina 2026

Burned forest acres in North Carolina 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 North Carolina	% of burned forest	% of North Carolina's forestland
Public	1,597	69.6%	17.8%
Federal	1,595	69.6%	10.6%
State	1	0.1%	5.9%
Local (county, city)	0	0.0%	1.2%
Tribal	0	0.0%	0.1%
Tribal	0	0.0%	0.1%
Private	587	25.6%	82.1%
Family	587	25.6%	56.1%
Corporate	0	0.0%	18.7%
TIMO/REIT	0	0.0%	5.7%
Other private	0	0.0%	1.6%
Ownership not modeled	110	4.8%	—
Burned forest in North Carolina	2,293	—	—

Fires by owner

Fire	Forest acres in North Carolina	Federal	State	Private	Not modeled
Rose Bay Canal Fire	557	2	1	501	53
Tarkiln Ridge Fire	408	407	0	0	0
Jumping Branch Fire	405	399	0	0	7
Poplar Fire	358	299	0	29	30
Winding Stair A Fire	227	214	0	0	12
Cadduggen Fire	196	195	0	0	1
Fox Gap Fire	111	54	0	56	0
Flat Rattlesnake Fire	32	26	0	0	7