Benson Fire

Menard County, Texas · Wildfire

Active Official numbers updated Sep 13, 2026 (about 2 hours ago)
First reported yesterday
Metric Now
Size
1,395 acres
Sep 12, 11:00 PM
+395 acres
was 1,000 acres · Sep 12, 9:00 PM
Containment
75%
Sep 12, 11:00 PM
+65 percent
was 10% · Sep 12, 9:00 PM
Crew size —
Money spent —

Benson Fire and other nearby fires

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

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Benson Fire summary

The Benson Fire is a wildfire near Menard County, Texas. It has burned about 1,395 acres (about 1,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 75% of its edge; the other 25% isn't contained yet. It's a brand-new fire, first reported yesterday. We're also tracking 1 other active fire within about 75 miles.

Size
1,395 acres
Containment
75%
Discovered
September 12, 2026 (first reported yesterday)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Saturday, September 12th at 11:00 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.

Tonight

70°F · Mostly Clear

Wind 10 mph SSE · 8% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Sunday

96°F · Sunny

Wind 10 mph S · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Hot Dry

Sunday Night

70°F · Clear

Wind 10 mph SSE · 1% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Monday

95°F · Sunny

Wind 10 to 15 mph S · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Hot Dry

Monday Night

69°F · Mostly Clear

Wind 10 to 15 mph SSE · 0% chance of rain

Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Saturday, September 12th at 11:04 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.

2° 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.

2,266 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 Saturday, September 12th at 5:05 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

This fire is small enough that no crew size or team has been posted yet. That's normal for a fire this size — those numbers show up once a fire is big enough to need a formal report.

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 Benson Fire

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

See all active fires in Texas →

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