Cottonwood Fire

Gilliam County, Oregon · Wildfire

Contained Official numbers updated Aug 13, 2026 (3 days ago)
First reported about 3 weeks ago
Metric Now
Size
15,658 acres
Aug 16, 2:01 PM
−615 acres
was 16,273 acres · Jul 29, 9:00 PM
Containment
100%
Aug 16, 2:01 PM
+80 percent
was 20% · Jul 27, 7:01 PM
Crew size
Money spent
$3.0M
Aug 16, 2:01 PM
+$837,407
was $2.2M · Jul 25, 8:00 PM

Cottonwood Fire and other nearby fires

🔥 Where this fire started Mostly contained Partly contained Containment not reported

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Cottonwood Fire summary

The Cottonwood Fire is a wildfire near Gilliam County, Oregon. It has burned about 15,658 acres (about 12,000 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 3 weeks ago. A Type 5 IC is running it. We're also tracking 8 other active fires within about 75 miles.

Size
15,658 acres
Containment
100%
Discovered
July 23, 2026 (first reported about 3 weeks ago)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Sunday, August 16th at 2:01 p.m. CDT.

Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what this fire will do.

This Afternoon

85°F · Patchy Smoke

Wind 10 to 14 mph NW · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Dry

Tonight

63°F · Patchy Smoke then Mostly Cloudy

Wind 8 to 14 mph W · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Monday

87°F · Patchy Smoke

Wind 8 mph NW · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Dry

Monday Night

65°F · Patchy Smoke then Mostly Cloudy

Wind 8 to 12 mph W · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Tuesday

86°F · Sunny

Wind 12 to 20 mph W · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Windy Heat: Warm Dry

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Sunday, August 16th at 2:05 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

A Type 5 IC is running this fire. The government rates it a Type 5 Incident. About $3 million has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.

Where to get live updates

We show the daily official picture. For minute-by-minute updates, evacuation orders, and maps, these do it best:

Nearby fires to Cottonwood Fire

Within about 75 miles we're tracking 8 other active fires, closest first:

See all active fires in Oregon →

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