Polly Fire

Southeast Fairbanks County, Alaska · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Sep 10, 2026 (about 3 hours ago)
First reported about 3 months ago
Metric Now
Size
135 acres
Sep 10, 4:00 PM
Containment
0%
Sep 10, 4:00 PM
Crew size
11
Sep 10, 4:00 PM
Money spent
$260,219
Sep 10, 4:00 PM

Polly Fire and other nearby fires

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

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Polly Fire summary

The Polly Fire is a wildfire near Southeast Fairbanks County, Alaska. It has burned about 135 acres (about 103 football fields). Crews have boxed in 0% of its edge; the other 100% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 3 months ago. About 11 people are on it, run by a Type 4 IC.

Size
135 acres
Containment
0%
Discovered
June 21, 2026 (first reported about 3 months ago)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Thursday, September 10th at 4:00 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

56°F · Partly Sunny

Wind 5 mph W · 10% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Tonight

40°F · Scattered Rain Showers

Wind 5 mph SW · 25% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain

Friday

65°F · Mostly Sunny then Isolated Rain Showers

Wind 5 mph SW · 20% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain

Friday Night

44°F · Scattered Rain Showers

Wind 0 to 5 mph SW · 48% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Some rain

Saturday

61°F · Scattered Rain Showers

Wind 0 to 10 mph SW · 53% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Rain likely

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 4:02 p.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

14° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

0% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

1,394 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 3:44 p.m. CDT.

When I roll up to someone's house that's clearly been hardened against wildfire, it's like a breath of fresh air. I know my chances of saving your home just went up dramatically.

A wildland firefighter, on Reddit

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Who's on it

About 11 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 4 IC. The government rates it a Type 5 Incident. About $260,219 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 Polly Fire

No other active fires are near this one right now. It's on its own.

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