If you’re looking out your window in Los Angeles or San Francisco today and the sky isn't a bruised shade of orange, you might assume the danger has passed. But the short answer to are fires still burning in CA is almost always yes. It’s a harsh reality. Even when the news cycles move on to the next political scandal or celebrity breakup, the ground in the Golden State is often still smoldering.
California doesn't really have a "fire season" anymore. Not in the way your parents remember it.
It used to be that we worried from August to October. Then the winter rains would come, everyone would breathe a sigh of relief, and the fire engines would go back into the bays for six months. That’s gone. Now, we see massive blazes in January. We see "zombie fires" that over-winter in the roots of trees. Honestly, the question isn't just about whether things are burning right now, but where the next one is sparking and why the state can't seem to catch a break.
The Current State of the Burn
Right now, as of early 2026, CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service are monitoring several active incidents. While we aren't seeing the apocalyptic 4-million-acre seasons of years past, there is constant activity. Most of what is burning currently falls into two categories: active suppression targets and prescribed burns.
You've probably heard of the "Big Ones" like the Park Fire or the Dixie Fire from previous years. Those massive scars take years to heal. Even months after the main flames are out, pockets of heat remain. Firefighters call these "hot spots." They can hide under layers of pine needles or inside hollowed-out logs for weeks.
Why the smoke doesn't always mean a catastrophe
Sometimes you’ll see a plume of smoke on the horizon and panic. I get it. We’re all a little traumatized. But a lot of what's burning lately is actually intentional.
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California has a massive "fuel load" problem. Basically, for a hundred years, we put out every single fire immediately. That sounds like a good thing, right? Wrong. It turned our forests into tinderboxes. Now, agencies like CAL FIRE are desperately trying to play catch-up with prescribed burns. They are fighting fire with fire. If you see smoke near the Sierra Nevada or in the North Coast ranges during a damp week, it's likely a controlled burn meant to save a town later in the summer.
The Weather Factor: Why It Never Really Stops
The climate has shifted. We're seeing longer droughts followed by "atmospheric rivers" that dump feet of rain in days. This creates a vicious cycle. The rain makes the grass grow tall. Then the heat kills that grass. Now you have billions of blades of dry, standing fuel ready to go up at the first spark from a dragging trailer chain or a downed power line.
Winds are the real killer. The Santa Anas in the south and the Diablos in the north.
When those winds kick up, a tiny campfire can turn into a 10,000-acre monster in three hours. It's terrifyingly fast. Experts from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have pointed out that the "vapor pressure deficit"—which is basically a fancy way of saying how thirsty the air is—has been hitting record highs. When the air is that dry, it sucks the moisture right out of the trees. They become literal sticks of dynamite.
Real-Time Tracking: How to See Where it's Burning
If you want to know exactly are fires still burning in CA at this very second, you shouldn't rely on the nightly news. They only cover the stuff that's burning houses down. For the full picture, you need to look at the data the pros use.
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- The CAL FIRE Incident Map: This is the gold standard. It shows every fire over 10 acres that their crews are responding to.
- InciWeb: This is for federal lands. If a fire starts in a National Forest (which covers a huge chunk of California), it’ll be here.
- PurpleAir: Sometimes you can’t see the fire, but you can feel it in your lungs. This map shows real-time air quality. If the dots are purple or red, something nearby is definitely burning.
- NASA FIRMS: This is the "Satellite View." It uses infrared sensors to detect heat signatures from space. It’s a bit technical, but it’s the fastest way to see a new start before the official reports come out.
The Human Element and Infrastructure
We have to talk about the "Wildland-Urban Interface" or WUI. It’s a clunky term, but it basically means people are moving further into the woods. We’re building homes in places that are naturally designed to burn.
Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) has been at the center of this for years. Their aging equipment has sparked some of the deadliest fires in state history. They’ve started doing "Public Safety Power Shutoffs" (PSPS) to prevent this. It’s annoying to lose power when it’s 90 degrees out, but it beats having your neighborhood vaporized because a transformer blew in a high wind.
Does the "Fire Season" Even Exist Anymore?
In 2026, we’re seeing that the answer is "sorta."
Technically, the peak risk is still summer and fall. But look at the history. We had the Colorado Fire near Big Sur start in January a few years back. January! That should be the wettest month of the year. It’s a sign that the old rules are broken. The state has responded by hiring more year-round firefighters. They aren't seasonal workers anymore; they are full-time defenders of a landscape that is increasingly volatile.
What You Can Actually Do
If you live in California or are planning to visit, you can't just ignore this. Awareness is the only thing that keeps you safe when things go sideways.
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First, get your "Go Bag" ready. Don't wait until there's smoke in the air. You need your documents, some cash, N95 masks (for the smoke), and a three-day supply of water. Honestly, most people think they have time, but when the evacuation order hits, you usually have about 15 minutes before the roads get jammed.
Second, check your "Defensible Space." If you own a home, clear the brush. Remove the dead leaves from your gutters. It sounds like a chore, but those little embers that fly miles ahead of a fire love to land in gutters. A clean roof can be the difference between a standing house and a pile of ash.
Third, stay informed via local alerts. Sign up for "CodeRED" or whatever emergency alert system your specific county uses. Twitter (or X) used to be great for this, but it's gotten a bit unreliable lately. Local sheriff's office pages on Facebook or dedicated emergency apps are usually more accurate now.
Final Reality Check
So, are fires still burning in CA? Yes. Somewhere in the 163,000 square miles of this state, something is likely on fire. But California is also getting better at fighting them. We have the largest civil aerial firefighting fleet in the world. We have better satellite detection than ever before.
The goal isn't to live in fear, but to live with a healthy respect for the land. California is a fire-adapted ecosystem. It wants to burn. Our job is to make sure that when it does, we aren't in the way.
Immediate Next Steps for Californians:
- Download the Watch Duty App: It is widely considered the best crowd-sourced and verified fire tracking app available right now.
- Verify your Insurance: Check your "Fair Plan" or private insurance policy today to ensure you have actual replacement cost coverage, not just a flat sum.
- Hardening your home: Spend one hour this weekend clearing any flammable material (wood piles, dry mulch) from within five feet of your home's exterior walls.