Colwash Fire

Yakima County, Washington · Wildfire

No longer active Official numbers updated Sep 4, 2026 (12 days ago)

First reported about 4 weeks ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	4,000 acres Sep 4, 1:00 PM	39,103 acres Sep 16, 4:00 AM +35,103 acres was 4,000 acres · Sep 4, 1:00 PM	+35,103 acres in 12 days
Containment	98% Sep 3, 5:00 PM	100% Sep 16, 4:00 AM +2 percent was 98% · Sep 3, 5:00 PM	+2 percent in 12 days
Crew size	130 Aug 27, 7:00 PM	4 Sep 16, 4:00 AM −126 was 130 · Aug 27, 7:00 PM	−126 in 19 days
Money spent	$1.2M Aug 25, 7:00 PM	$1.9M Sep 16, 4:00 AM +$700,000 was $1.2M · Aug 25, 7:00 PM	+$700,000 in 21 days

Colwash Fire summary

The Colwash Fire is a wildfire near Yakima County, Washington. It has burned about 39,103 acres (about 30,000 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 4 weeks ago. About 4 people are on it, run by a Type 3 IC.

Size: 39,103 acres
Containment: 100%
Discovered: August 22, 2026 (first reported about 4 weeks ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Friday, September 11th at 1:00 p.m. CDT.

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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.

Today

75°F · Mostly Sunny

Wind 2 mph E · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Dry

Tonight

50°F · Mostly Cloudy

Wind 2 mph S · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Saturday

76°F · Mostly Cloudy then Chance Rain Showers

Wind 0 to 5 mph N · 32% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Warm Some rain

Saturday Night

48°F · Rain Showers

Wind 5 to 14 mph W · 86% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Rain likely

Sunday

66°F · Rain Showers

Wind 9 to 15 mph W · 76% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Rain likely

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Friday, September 11th at 1:02 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.

1° slope

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

Not wildfire fuel (NB3)

Farmland. Not a wildland fuel.

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.

745 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 3:54 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 4 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 3 IC. The government rates it a Type 3 Incident. About $2 million has been spent on it so far.

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