Plaskett Fire

Monterey County, California · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Sep 16, 2026 (about 9 hours ago)
First reported about 3 weeks ago
Metric Now
Size
29,993 acres
Sep 16, 5:00 AM
+17 acres
was 29,976 acres · Sep 15, 7:01 PM
Containment
89%
Sep 16, 5:00 AM
+6 percent
was 83% · Sep 13, 7:00 PM
Crew size
348
Sep 16, 5:00 AM
−120
was 468 · Sep 15, 7:01 PM
Money spent
$55.5M
Sep 16, 5:00 AM
+$429,929
was $55.1M · Sep 14, 7:00 PM

Plaskett Fire and other nearby fires

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

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Plaskett Fire summary

The Plaskett Fire is a wildfire near Monterey County, California. It has burned about 29,993 acres (about 23,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 89% of its edge; the other 11% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 3 weeks ago. About 348 people are on it, run by a Complex Incident Management Team. We're also tracking 1 other active fire within about 75 miles.

Size
29,993 acres
Containment
89%
Discovered
August 26, 2026 (first reported about 3 weeks ago)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Wednesday, September 16th at 5:00 a.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.

Overnight

56°F · Mostly Cloudy

Wind 1 mph NW · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Wednesday

60°F · Partly Sunny

Wind 0 to 6 mph NW · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Wednesday Night

54°F · Mostly Cloudy then Slight Chance Drizzle

Wind 1 to 5 mph NNW · 15% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Thursday

60°F · Slight Chance Drizzle then Mostly Sunny

Wind 1 to 6 mph NW · 15% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Thursday Night

57°F · Mostly Clear

Wind 1 to 6 mph NNW · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Wednesday, September 16th at 5:03 a.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.

3° 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 (NB1)

Urban or developed land. 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.

159 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 3:58 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 348 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Complex Incident Management Team. The government rates it a Type 2 Incident. About $55 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 Plaskett Fire

Within about 75 miles we're tracking 1 other active fire, closest first:

See all active fires in California →

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