Dry thunderstorms that popped up over the Cascade Rangeon the evening of July 15, 2026, peppered Oregon and Washington with thousands oflightning strikesas they moved east across the states.
By the following day, NASA satellites hadbegun to detectlarge numbers of wildland fires burning throughout central and eastern Oregon.
Though initially small, these blazes strengthened as they were fanned by gusty winds and raced through landscapes parched byextreme droughtand baking in summer heat.
When NASA’sAquasatellite captured the image shown above on the afternoon of July 26, smoke poured northeast from dozens of large fires that had collectively charred hundreds of square miles.
The fires produced a blanket of haze, prompting state officials to issueair quality advisoriesfor eastern Oregon.
Many communities faced evacuation orders as more than 1만 firefighters battled wildfires throughout the state.
On the day the image was captured, the largest active fires were the Hay Creek Complex, Brewer, Big Grass, Akawa Butte, and Powder River fires.
Several of these blazes were less than 5 percent contained, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
State officials invoked Oregon’s Emergency Conflagration Act to protect communities as they responded to particularly threatening fires such as the Shingle, Bench, Beachcomb, and Second Flatfires.
Government satellite data are part of a global system of observations used to track fire behavior and analyze emerging trends.
Among the real-time wildfire monitoring tools that NASA makes available areFIRMS, the Worldviewbrowser, and the Fire Event Explorer.
As of July 27, 2026, fires in Oregon had burned more than one million acres, according tonews outlets.
Meanwhile, the National Interagency Fire Centerreported that fires had burned more than 4 million acres across the United States.
The 10-year average for this point in the season is 3.4 million acres.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using MODIS data from NASAEOSDIS LANCEandGIBS/Worldview. Story by Adam Voiland.
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Central Oregon Fire InfoThe Source For Comprehensive Fire, Health, And Air Quality Information In Central Oregon. Accessed July 27, 2026.
KGW8Latest updates on Oregon wildfires: Fires burn more than 1 million acres across the state. Accessed July 27, 2026.
NASA EarthdataWildfires. Accessed July 27, 2026.
National Interagency Fire CenterOregon. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Northwest Interagency Coordination CenterOfficial Fire Information. Accessed July 27, 2026.
OPBOregon wildfires explode over weekend with no signs of slowing down. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Oregon State Fire MarshalOSFM Wildfire Info. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Oregon.govCurrent wildfire info. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Oregon Smoke InformationAir quality advisory for Eastern Oregon and parts of Central Oregon. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Oregon Department of ForestryLatest News. Accessed July 27, 2026.
U.S. Drought MonitorOregon. Accessed July 27, 2026.
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