Investigators listed the fire’s cause on Inciweb, but did not release details on how they determined the cause. The fire’s latest update on Tuesday morning reported that containment is increasing while the fire’s growth continues to slow due to cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity.
“Crews were successful at tying in more of the fire perimeter to control lines along the north and northeast areas of the fire,” according to the latest update. “Firefighters continue to improve indirect and contingency lines ahead of the fire.”
Some incident personnel on Tuesday morning attended a procession in Modesto, California, for Ryan Cutter and Greg King, the two pilots who died in a helicopter crash while working the fire. The FAA’s initial incident notification said the helicopter, a Eurocopter AS32 Super Puma, crashed under unknown circumstances while on water bucket drops at the fire.
Personnel working the fire have attributed the increasing containment to several pack mules from the Shasta-Trinity National Forest delivering fire equipment and medical supplies to crews.
“These intelligent, strong animals provide invaluable support,” crews said. “Using pack mules allows helicopters to do other work, such as bucket drops; and mules can also be used in smoky conditions where a helicopter would not have good visibility to deliver supplies to a remote site.”
Teams from across the world have competed to build transformative technology for wildfire detection and response. The winners were given hundreds of thousands of dollars to continue their development.
The teams were awarded the funds at the XPRIZE Wildfire Competition Awardee Ceremony at the New York City Fire Museum on Sept. 23. Nine of the 124 teams ended up winning prize money for their inventions focusing on either Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence and Autonomous Wildfire Response.
Along with the prize money, each winner will move forward to XPRIZE’s “Impact Phase,” which will use field trials to translate the technologies into real-world solutions for wildfire management.
“The awardee announcement marks an important milestone in the fight against destructive wildfires, but the breakthroughs that emerged from the competition are only the beginning,” XPRIZE said in a press release. “By catalyzing technological innovation and collaboration between innovators and wildfire experts, XPRIZE Wildfire has helped spur the development, adoption and investment needed to strengthen the accuracy of wildfire detection and the speed of response.”
The winners in the Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence section, according to the XPRIZE website, included:
First Place – System Integration Awardee, $500,000: SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance demonstrated comprehensive end-to-end and system integration methodology, integrating SAR and optical data to support fire characterization and spread modeling.
Second Place – Methodological Innovation Awardee, $250,000: Team Snuffed Team Snuffed developed a probabilistic data-fusion framework designed to provide transparent, auditable and uncertainty-aware wildfire detection, with strong firefighter-facing usability.
Special Recognition, Commercial Viability, $100,000: MyRadar As a commercially mature team, MyRadar utilized upstream satellite acquisition and demonstrated spatial precision.
Special Recognition, Operational Deliverable, $100,000: DeepFire DeepFire demonstrated an operational fire-spread-alert capability designed to support wildfire detection and intelligence.
Special Recognition, Innovative Algorithm Application, $100,000: Mayday.AI Mayday.AI applied an algorithm originally developed for volcanic-ash detection to identify wildfire smoke plumes through cloud cover.
The winners of the Autonomous Wildfire Response section included:
First Place Awardee, $1.2 Million: Anduril Industries Anduril’s modular Lattice software platform provided a detection-to-suppression integrated pathway for cameras, sensors, and drones.
Second Place Awardee, $800,000: Dryad Networks Dryad’s Silvanet, a 170-sensor persistent field network, combined with their Silvaguard drones, demonstrated end-to-end autonomy.
Third Place Awardee, $500,000: AURA Foresight AURA successfully demonstrated autonomous and persistent detection, meeting the critical 10-minute detection gate.
Lockheed Martin Accurate Detection & Intelligence Bonus Prize, $1,000,000: Anduril Industries Recognized for their rapid and precise multi-sensor detector performance.
It is now peak fire season in Australia. In September? That’s news for Australia’s densely populated southerly regions two and half months away from a summer that is predicted to be an active one for bushfire as the El Nino takes hold.
But across the top half of the continent, the picture from the Northern Australia Fire Information shows that there are currently eight active fires with burnt areas larger than 100 square kilometres (38 square miles) across the Northern Territory right now. So, in terms of fire size alone, peak season it is.
The map below shows fires currently burning in the Northern Territory and the area (km2) burnt.
Fires currently burning and the area (km2) burnt so far, Northern Territory, Australia, September 2026. Graphic: NAFI
In total, more than 12 million hectares (29 million acres) have burnt across the NT in the last three weeks and the scene is becoming more extreme over the next month, as the north enters its late Dry Season.
A few large fires account for the majority of all burnt area, with the 10 largest fires in the NT this year burning 1,837,712 hectares (4.4 million acres).
Rohan Fisher, from Charles Darwin University, notes that most of these bigger fires are in the central parts of the NT, where there is less fuel management.
“I should point out that this is not unusual and not all of these fires are necessarily bad”, he says of his NAFI data. “After years of big wet seasons (wet summers) there is a lot of fuel about. Further north where extensive, Indigenous led, fuel management is done. we don’t see fires of this scale.”
Further south, Queensland firefighters have battled more than 50 fires in recent weeks, with the South Burnett region currently the main point of activity.
And even further south, the Tasmania Fire Service was busy with 60 fires over the last week.
The 2026 fire season to September showing burnt areas across Northern Australia. Graphic: NAFI
Burn Bot is large, tank-like vehicle that wants to solve the most troubling of fuel mitigation questions – how can you manage more area, across all sorts of terrain, in all sorts of weather, at all times of the year, without overtaxing or endangering local crews, and without smothering communities with smoke?
Mechanical fuel mitigation is not new, nor are air curtain burners (AirBurners, for example) or other mobile burning units (See the Blacklining Machine we wrote about in 2011). Burn Bot is a remotely operated, moving fire box that offers a neat option to burn at scale over extended windows across large areas of open terrain or in strategic or sensitive areas.
And neat is the word – Burn Bot can establish a remarkably clean and straight firebreak or containment line. Burn Bot hopes this will attract those who conduct roadside burns, or fuel reduction under powerlines or near sensitive built up areas such as schools, aged care centres or the other community hubs.
After establishing itself on the west coast in the United States, with a base in San Francisco, a single Burn Bot vehicle has just arrived in south-east Queensland, Australia.
It sparked a fair bit of interest at the recent AFAC2026 Fire and Emergency Services conference trade show in Melbourne where Head of Australia for Burn Bot, Clinton Neumann, pitched it as a bigger and better way to get loads more fuel mitigation completed.
“What we are looking to do is to scale up the amount of treatment that can happen across landscapes, to mitigate the impact of destructive wildfires. One of the constraints of prescribed fire is the weather window, where the opportunity to put in prescribed fire becomes increasingly complex and more limited,” says Neumann.
“Because we can control the temperatures in the chamber and dial it up to suite the fuel bed you are operating in, it really gives you a much broader range of operating conditions. You can burn really uncured, green grass, right through to conditions that would be a bit marginal for open burning. It stretches the envelope at both ends.”
The three rows of propane burners aim to operate between 750 to 800 degrees Celsius, with an upper limit of 1100 degrees Celsius, inside the combustion chamber. It travels at the walking pace of the operator beside it with the remote-control device, with a spotter close by to make it a two-person operation at a minimum. The unit has water sprayers all round to catch any escapes but in most circumstances there is also a local crew present on a tanker.
Photo: BurnBot
In conditions considered less suitable for the Burn Bot (dense forests, rocky ground, steep gullies), the company brings in its other remote-controlled machines including mulchers or traditional hand-held means.
It is early days for considering it for use in suppression work. It would be a brave fire manager who brought it into a landscape already in a wildfire situation, but under some circumstances it could be used for containment lines.
“Potentially, it could be used for defensive firing operations, where you have got a lot of open edge and grassy country. It’s capable of burning 24-7, so overnight work to put in containment lines could be a good use for it.”
The almost absence of smoke is the other aspect that caught people’s attention at the AFAC2026 expo. With such high temperatures in the fully contained chamber, the amount of combustion smoke is minimal.
“Most of the product you see coming out is actually steam from the moisture content in the fuel…We did some comparisons with open burning and with air curtain burners and things like that, and it performs pretty well.”
The lack of prescribed burning smoke is appealing to complex environments, such as in California, which have strict requirements on air quality. “In California, which is the most complex environment we operate in, it is often exempt from any of the air quality permit requirements.”
Burn Bot is pitching its service to a range of potential users – fire and land agencies, state and local government, large private land holders and utilities. The plan is not so much to sell the units, but to offer a full-service fuel mitigation business where the Burn Bot is one component alongside mulching and other conventional methods.
Wildfire detection company SenseNet, Canada’s largest wildfire detection operator, recently announced the acquisition of N5 Sensors‘ wildfire-related assets, a semiconductor producer in the United States, despite the company’s recent failure in a federal audit and the two nations being in the middle of a trade war.
N5 builds environmental and chemical sensor platforms for air quality analysis, hazardous chemical monitoring and early wildfire detection, according to the company’s website. SenseNet acquired the company’s fire-sensing technology just months after the sensors failed an audit conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
SenseNet CEO and Founder Hamed Noori told Wildfire Today that he and his company were aware of the failed audit before the acquisition, deciding that the audit’s report did not accurately reflect N5’s technology nor how it would operate under SenseNet. He added that he believes N5’s integration into SenseNet would only add to his company’s ability to monitor wildfires.
SenseNet also monitors more than 400 million acres of wildlands across 10 other countries. The company focuses on smoldering-phase gas sensors, long-range AI cameras, and satellite intelligence, among other technologies.
The acquisition also comes amid an escalating trade war between the U.S. and Canada, triggered after President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on numerous goods from Canada entering the U.S. on Aug. 19, and explicitly includes electronics and telecom equipment like those SenseNet and N5 rely on, along with vehicle parts, lumber, and agricultural goods. Canada exported more than $4 billion worth of electronics equipment to the U.S. in 2025 that would now be subject to the tariffs, largely made up of electrical boards and controllers.
Canada’s responded by instituting 25% tariffs on $30 billion worth of American goods on August 22then issued more retaliatory tariffs on September 8, including taxes ranging between 15 and 50% on a list of more than 700 U.S. goods, including semiconductor-related parts and other technology goods.
Noori told Wildfire Today he expects the ongoing trade war to minimally impact his business, if at all.
“For one, the sensors are relatively cheap and the majority of our value comes from our platform and AI that detects the wildfires,” Noori said. “Secondly, wildfire prevention is an issue that transcends politics as both countries collaborate deeply and share resources.”
The Precision aerospace company identified the men as Greg King and Ryan Cutter in a post on their social media account late Monday night. The company did not release further details on King or Cutter but acknowledged the public’s thoughts and prayers.
“These two men deserve every single one of them, as do their families and friends,” a company representative said in the post. “These two men brought honor to the mission. Their dedication and service will never be forgotten.”
The FAA’s initial incident notification said the helicopter, a Eurocopter AS32 Super Puma, crashed under unknown circumstances while on water bucket drops at the fire. The administration listed one flight crew member and one passenger on the helicopter.
The Dome Fire has burned 3,324 acres and is 15% contained as of Tuesday morning, according to fire crews at the scene. The fire continued to spread into the 2017 Empire Fire footprint, whiile a spot fire to the east grows. Officials expect spotting to continue as the fire moves north into heavy dead and down fuels.
“Fire behavior will remain moderate, with spotting behavior being a big challenge in the full suppression efforts of this fire,” officials said in the Monday morning update. “We continue to stage structure firefighters at Yosemite West and Wawona, supporting local communities and continuing prep work and contingencies.”
Two flight crew members were killed on Sunday when their firefighting helicopter crashed at the Dome Fire burning in Yosemite National Park, according to the company that owned the helicopter.
Aerospace company Precision confirmed the two crew members’ deaths to WildfireToday. A company spokesperson said representatives are working to notify family members of those who were killed and that the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are leading an investigation into the incident. They did not share details on the events leading up to the crash.
“It is with unimaginable sadness and broken hearts that we share the loss of two beloved members of our team,” Precision said in a statement. “We are devastated by this loss and are struggling to find the words. We ask for privacy and compassion for their families and our team as we grieve this tremendous loss.”
The Dome Fire burned 2,667 acres as of Sunday morning, according to crews working the fire. The fire continues to grow into the 2017 Empire Fire footprint, which burned 8,094 acres northeast of Wawona, California. The presence of abundant fuels in the area is driving fire spread.
“Heavy fuel conditions continue to pose challenges for ground-based suppression resources as they continue to utilize natural barriers such as granite outcroppings and bare areas in the northwest flank,” according to the latest incident update. “Fire is moving through red fir fuel type, which is conducive to spotting and susceptible to burning.”
Fire managers expected an incoming weak weather system to spread clouds and lower temperatures throughout the fire area on Sunday.
Over 40 years of wildfire-ignition data across 11 western U.S. states showed that national forest areas classified as “roadless” didn’t burn more than national forest land with roads, further fueling discussion around the Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ intent to repeal the 2001 “Roadless Rule.”
Rollins has stated that the nation’s protected forests need to be opened to new road construction, development and logging in order to reduce the risk of wildfires. Rollins has also labeled the rule as an “absurd obstacle to properly managing our forests.”
Researchers out of Oregon State University explicitly cited the USDA’s wildfire-based claims for repealing the 2021 Roadless Rule as the reason behind why they analyzed four decades of fire research. Previous studies have highlighted the ecological benefits of roadless areas, including the conservation of biodiversity and supporting clean air and water quality, and the researchers argue those benefits are why it is important for decision-makers to critically evaluate proposed rationales for overturning the Roadless Rule.
Their study, published on Sept. 8, compiled fire severity and extent data to evaluate fire patterns across developed lands, inventoried roadless areas (IRAs), and wilderness. The fire severity data was sourced from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program, an interagency effort between the US Geological Survey and Forest Service that uses Landsat satellite imagery to map the extent and severity of all large fires from 1984 to the present.
The researchers found inventoried roadless areas burned at an estimated 1.13 times the annual rate of developed lands between 1984 and 2023. The annual burn rate of inventoried roadless areas dropped to 0.89 times the annual rate of developed lands when measured between 2014 and 2023.
“Our analysis indicates that IRAs across western states’ NFS land are not associated with a significantly greater rate of burning – or a greater rate of moderate and high-severity fire – relative to roaded or developed lands,” the researchers said in the study. “It is possible that burn rates in IRAs [inventoried roadless areas] are stabilizing as fires encounter previously burned areas with less fuel to burn. However, it is more likely that there is simply no consistent, quantifiable difference between patterns of fire in IRAs and the roaded and developed portion of the NFS landscape at the spatial and temporal scales we evaluated.”
The researchers did identify a landscape with a very high burn rate, but it would be unaffected by the Roadless Rule’s repeal. Congressionally designated wilderness areas burned at almost double the annual rate of inventoried roadless areas or developed lands, which they attributed to significant constraints on suppression resource availability during fire seasons and the low prioritization remote wilderness areas receive for both initial attack and containment.
An “After-Action Review” of Los Angeles County’s response to the disastrous Eaton and Palisades Fires found that numerous gaps remain in the recovery and repopulation process.
The County’s Board of Supervisors commissioned the review, and consultant agency McChrystal Group conducted it through system reviews, official interviews, and public surveys. The consultants recommended multiple systems or resources the County should implement across six focus areas, including communications, recovery, repopulation, shelter, public health, and volunteer and donations management.
Numerous survivors of the Eaton and Palisades Fires confronted a fractured and confusing recovery process in the aftermath of the disaster, according to the report. The many jurisdictional distinctions across LA County led to unclear and inconsistent information about recovery needs.
That issue was compounded by the outpouring of support from multiple different organizations and nonprofits, which made it difficult for residents to “sort through the noise.” Even at county-operated Disaster Recovery Centers, which consultants said helped consolidate services for residents, survivors had to repeatedly verify identity, residence, ownership, or eligibility depending on whether they were applying for FEMA assistance, replacement records, insurance claims, or other support programs.
“The evacuation and repopulation process was chaotic and deeply stressful … residents had to make decisions with incomplete or conflicting information … there was little on-site guidance about safety, documentation, or next steps,” according to a respondent to the public survey featured in the report by consultants. “Los Angeles County could improve this process by providing more consistent and centralized communication, clearer timelines and criteria for … reentry, and on-the-ground support teams.”
This feedback led consultants’ recommendations to largely focus on the streamlining of disaster operations before the next tragedy happens. The recommendations, sorted by cost and time to implement, included:
Near-Term (Low to Moderate Cost)
Standardize recovery governance and operating procedures.
Formalize agreements with nonprofit and community-based partners.
Improve public information systems, resident intake processes, accessibility and multilingual communications.
Strengthen grant identification and reimbursement management capabilities.
Mid-Term (Moderate Cost)
Establish dedicated recovery coordination and grants management positions.
Expand disaster case management and community navigation services.
Implement integrated recovery data and case-tracking systems.
Long-Term (Higher Cost)
Create a permanent countywide recovery and resilience capability that integrates recovery planning, climate adaptation, community resilience, and cross-sector coordination under a common governance framework.
Establish dedicated funding reserves or recurring appropriations to sustain critical recovery functions between disasters.
“Prioritizing permanent capabilities that can be scaled during major incidents would improve operational readiness, accelerate recovery outcomes, enhance service considerations, and reduce the costs associated with repeatedly standing up temporary recovery structures after each climate-related disaster,” the consultants said in the report.
The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued a final rule making the duties eligible for hazard pay for General Schedule employees and for Environmental Differential Pay for Federal Wage System employees. The final rule specifically authorizes a 25% differential for both classes of employees participating in the fireline during prescribed fires.
The rule will officially go into effect 30 days after it is published in the Federal Register, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Officials originally submitted the proposed rule in April.
“This is the latest improvement to firefighter compensation, following the incident response premium pay and permanent pay reforms established last year,” the Service said in a social media post.
Hazard pay has historically not been eligible for GS employees when the “hazard” in question has already been taken into account in the position’s description, like firefighters fighting wildfires, according to the Office. That largely changed for firefighters in 2021 when a special exemption was added, allowing wildland firefighters working on a wildfire’s fireline to receive hazard pay. The rule change follows the same logic, allowing a GS or FWS employee working a prescribed fire’s fireline to receive hazard pay despite the classification of the employee’s position.
Previous research has shown that wildland firefighters conducting prescribed burns are often exposed to carbon monoxide, trace metals, and particulate matter at levels that exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s recommended exposure limit, which may cause both short-term and long-term negative health impacts. Some of the personal protective equipment that wildland firefighters use has been found to increase the risk of cancer, due to the equipment shedding carcinogenic compounds and harmful chemicals when exposed to high temperatures common on firelines.
