2026 Polk County, Tennessee Wildfires

United StatesTennessee › Polk County

0 Active Fires
0 Acres Burning
2 2026 Season Fires ▲ +2 vs same period last year
652 2026 Season Acres ▲ +652 vs same period last year

Newest wildfires in Polk County

Apr 27 Started 2 acres 2 football fields Chestnut Ridge Fire
Apr 14 Started 650 acres Slightly smaller than Central Park 500 football fields Appalachia Fire

Largest wildfires in Polk County this season

650 Acres Slightly smaller than Central Park 500 football fields Appalachia Fire McCaysville
2 Acres 2 football fields Chestnut Ridge Fire McCaysville

All 2026 Polk County Fires · 2 fires

A fire is listed here when it is located in Polk 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 Polk County, not its whole reported size. A fire located elsewhere that burned into Polk County is listed too, at its Polk County acres, and is not added to the Polk County fire counts. County lines come from a different boundary dataset than state lines, so Polk 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
Appalachia Fire Apr 14, 2026 100% Inactive 650 35.1673, -84.3721 35.2137, -84.3807
Chestnut Ridge Fire Apr 27, 2026 Inactive 2 35.0607, -84.4777 35.0567, -84.4940
Totals 2026 Season Fires 2 Active Fires 0 Acres Burning 0 2026 Season Acres 652

Land cover · Polk County 2026

Burned acres in Polk 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 Polk County % of burned % of Polk County
Forest 651 99.7% 83.4%
Range (shrubland) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Grassland 0 0.0% 9.9%
Other 2 0.3% 6.6%
Measured acres in Polk County 653
Measured fires
Fire Reported acres Acres in Polk County Forest Range (shrubland) Grassland Other Unclassified
Appalachia Fire 650 651 649 0 0 2 0
Chestnut Ridge Fire 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Reconciliation
Line Fires Acres
Counted fires 2 652
Offered to measurement 2 652
Complex roll-up residue 0
Fires with cells 2 652
Awaiting a perimeter 0 0
Awaiting measurement 0 0
Measurement errors 0 0
Smaller than one cell 0 0
Every cell outside Polk County 0 0
Measured acres in Polk County 2 653
Measured acres outside Polk County 0
Whole perimeter acres 653
Reported minus measured -1
Burned in from another county 0 0

Forest ownership · Polk County 2026

Burned forest acres in Polk 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 Polk County % of burned forest % of Polk County's forestland
Public 566 87.0% 67.0%
Federal 566 87.0% 66.9%
State 0 0.0% 0.1%
Local (county, city) 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Tribal 0 0.0% 0.0%
Private 81 12.4% 33.0%
Family 81 12.4% 26.8%
Corporate 0 0.0% 6.3%
TIMO/REIT 0 0.0% 0.0%
Other private 0 0.0% 0.0%
Ownership not modeled 4 0.7%
Burned forest in Polk County 651
Fires by owner
Fire Forest acres in Polk County Federal State Local Tribal Private Not modeled
Appalachia Fire 649 566 0 0 0 79 4
Chestnut Ridge Fire 2 0 0 0 0 2 0

0 measured fires burned zero forest cells.

Reconciliation
Owner cells 2,929 651
Land cover Forest cells 2,929 651
Equal 2,929

Search Fires

🔥 Chestnut Ridge Fire 2026
Started: Apr 27 2 acre
🔥 Appalachia Fire 2026
Started: Apr 14 650 acre 100% contained