Washington wildfires

Border 2 Fire

ActiveWhatcom County, Washington2026Wildfire

The Border 2 Fire was reported on July 16, 2026 in Whatcom County, Washington and has burned 8,707 acres. It is 74 percent contained. The cause is listed as natural.

Size
8,707 acres
Contained
74%
Discovered
July 16, 2026
Personnel
37

Radar

Reflectivity now over Border 2 Fire. Open it to see fires and the fire weather outlook on the map.

Open the live radar with fires and the fire weather outlook

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS and NOAA Storm Prediction Center. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

Map

Perimeter mapped September 16, 2026 at 6:49 AM PDT, 23,004 acres (mixed methods). Point of origin 48.998, -121.028.

Live radar at the fire Forecast for Concrete

The incident

Size
8,707 acres
Containment
74%
Discovered
July 16, 2026 at 6:14 PM PDT
Cause
Natural
Location
36 Miles NE from Marblemount, WA
County
Whatcom County
State
Washington
Nearest city reported
Marblemount
Protecting agency
NPS
Jurisdiction
NPS
Land ownership at origin
NPS
Personnel assigned
37
Incident management
Type 4 IC, Type 4 Incident
Primary fuel
Timber (Litter and Understory)
Estimated cost to date
$5,223,438
Incident type
Wildfire
Unique fire identifier
2026-WANCP-000266
IRWIN identifier
A60CA689-BD59-4A2D-9BDC-CC551CEAFCA4

Growth

Mapped area at the last perimeter of each day, from July 22, 2026 (122 acres) to September 18, 2026 (23,004 acres). The largest one-day growth was 6,633 acres, mapped August 30, 2026.

DayAcresChange
July 22, 2026122
July 23, 2026257+135
July 27, 20262570
July 29, 20262,078+1,821
July 30, 20263,455+1,377
July 31, 20263,891+436
August 2, 20265,018+1,127
August 3, 20265,123+105
August 8, 20268,866+3,743
August 10, 202610,538+1,672
August 11, 202610,604+66
August 12, 202610,621+17
August 15, 202614,575+3,954
August 16, 202614,604+29
August 17, 202614,688+84
August 18, 202614,777+89
August 19, 202615,281+504
August 20, 202615,311+30
August 21, 202615,444+133
August 22, 202615,510+66
August 27, 202615,907+397
August 30, 202622,540+6,633
August 31, 202622,5400
September 4, 202622,5400
September 10, 202622,5400
September 11, 202622,862+322
September 18, 202623,004+142

Weather at the fire

  • Wind up to 8 mph from the south-southwest
  • Relative humidity as low as 26%
  • High of 59°F

National Weather Service hourly forecast for the fire’s point of origin, next 24 hours.

Full forecast for Concrete, WA

Alerts in force

Red Flag Warnings and Fire Weather Watches covering the fire's point of origin.

No Red Flag Warning or Fire Weather Watch is in force at the fire.

Smoke

NOAA’s Hazard Mapping System analysts have not drawn smoke over the fire’s origin today.

NOAA’s smoke model forecasts near-surface smoke at the origin peaking at 10.5 µg/m³ around Sun, 4:00 PM PDT over the next 48 hours.

Smoke and fire layers on the radar

From the incident team

Posted on InciWeb, updated August 20, 2026.

Following lightning storms on July 17, Border 1 Fire and Border 2 Fire were discovered within North Cascades National Park Service Complex along the U.S./Canada border, east of Ross Lake, in steep, rocky, and remote terrain. Fire activity increased due to elevated fire weather conditions Border 1 and Border 2 Fires combined on July 21, now known as the Border 2 Fire. The lightning-caused Border 2 Fire is being managed under a full-suppression strategy. For additional information on the Hozomeen Mountain Wildfire, please visit the Wildfire Situation website.

Original at InciWeb

Nearby

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Incident record from the National Interagency Fire Center’s Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Services (WFIGS), as the incident’s managers report it; last updated September 19, 2026 at 5:40 PM PDT. Identifier 2026-WANCP-000266.