Little Knife Fire

Lake County, Minnesota · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Aug 14, 2026 (2 days ago)
First reported about 5 weeks ago
Metric Now
Size
4,815 acres
Aug 16, 1:00 PM
−143 acres
was 4,958 acres · Aug 2, 5:00 PM
Containment
90%
Aug 16, 1:00 PM
+5 percent
was 85% · Aug 2, 5:00 PM
Crew size
4
Aug 16, 1:00 PM
−2
was 6 · Aug 13, 2:01 PM
Money spent
$2.9M
Aug 16, 1:00 PM
+$321,850
was $2.5M · Aug 4, 12:00 PM

Little Knife Fire and other nearby fires

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

Drag or zoom the map to see more fires in the area.

Little Knife Fire summary

The Little Knife Fire is a wildfire near Lake County, Minnesota. It has burned about 4,815 acres (about 4,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 90% of its edge; the other 10% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 5 weeks ago. About 4 people are on it, run by a Type 4 IC. We're also tracking 5 other active fires within about 75 miles.

Size
4,815 acres
Containment
90%
Discovered
July 15, 2026 (first reported about 5 weeks ago)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Sunday, August 16th at 1:00 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

73°F · Chance Rain Showers

Wind 5 to 10 mph NW · 12% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Tonight

51°F · Chance Rain Showers then Partly Cloudy

Wind 5 mph W · 10% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Monday

76°F · Mostly Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms

Wind 5 to 10 mph SW · 31% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Some rain

Monday Night

53°F · Showers And Thunderstorms Likely then Mostly Cloudy

Wind 5 mph W · 58% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Rain likely

Tuesday

69°F · Sunny

Wind 5 to 10 mph NW · 13% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Sunday, August 16th at 1:02 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 4 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 4 IC. The government rates it a Type 4 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 Little Knife Fire

Within about 75 miles we're tracking 5 other active fires, closest first:

See all active fires in Minnesota →

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