No longer in the daily fire updates. The Sparks Fire last appeared in an official report on September 2, 2026, at 6,000 acres and 100% contained. Fires drop off this list once crews have them contained or out; we keep the page for reference. See fires burning now →

Sparks Fire

Quay County, New Mexico · Wildfire

No longer active Official numbers updated Sep 2, 2026 (about 2 months ago)
First reported about 6 months ago
Metric Now
Size
6,000 acres
Oct 20, 7:01 PM
Containment
100%
Oct 20, 7:01 PM
Crew size
33
Oct 20, 7:01 PM
Money spent
$200,000
Oct 20, 7:01 PM

Sparks Fire and other nearby fires

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

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Sparks Fire summary

The Sparks Fire is a wildfire near Quay County, New Mexico. It has burned about 6,000 acres (about 5,000 football fields). Crews have it fully contained, with a line all the way around it. It was first reported about 6 months ago. About 33 people are on it, run by a Type 4 IC.

Size
6,000 acres
Containment
100%
Discovered
April 28, 2026 (first reported about 6 months ago)
Cause
Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Wednesday, September 16th at 4:00 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 a specific fire will do.

Day Night
This Afternoon
82°F · Scattered Showers And Thunderstorms
Wind 15 mph S · 43% rain
Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Some rain
61°F · Scattered Showers And Thunderstorms then Mostly Cloudy
Wind 5 to 15 mph SW · 52% rain
Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Rain likely
Thursday
84°F · Mostly Sunny
Wind 10 to 20 mph S · 4% rain
Wind: Windy Heat: Warm Dry
62°F · Partly Cloudy
Wind 10 to 15 mph S · 14% rain
Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry
Friday
86°F · Partly Sunny then Scattered Showers And Thunderstorms
Wind 15 mph SW · 37% rain
Wind: Breezy Heat: Warm Some rain
—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Wednesday, September 16th at 4:01 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.

0° 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.

5,217 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 3:43 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 33 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 4 IC. The government rates it a Type 3 Incident. About $200,000 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 Sparks Fire

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

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