Massachusetts Fire Map: Track MA Wildfires Live in 2026

A Massachusetts fire map normally tracks a short spring burning season and very little else — until drought rewrote the rules in autumn 2024. Wildfire activity jumped roughly 1,200 percent in October and November 2024, and the state's Bureau of Forest Fire Control logged 1,241 fires burning 4,262 acres for the year, its worst fire season in decades.

What does a Massachusetts fire map show right now?

A Massachusetts fire map fuses official NIFC incident records and WFIGS perimeters, NASA VIIRS and MODIS satellite heat, NOAA GOES detections and National Weather Service fire-weather alerts into one view. US Wildfire Tracker shows all four free in any browser, refreshing automatically every few minutes.

In a typical year, Massachusetts wildfires are small, brief and concentrated in a short spring window. But 2024 was not typical: the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Bureau of Forest Fire Control logged 1,241 wildfires burning 4,262 acres statewide, most of it in a two-month autumn stretch that outburned the previous two years combined.

That history is exactly why a live map matters here even in an "ordinary" state. Massachusetts can go years with almost nothing worth watching, then swing into a season where satellite heat, official perimeters and Red Flag Warnings all update daily — and the map is the fastest way to tell which mode you are in.

When is Massachusetts's wildfire season?

Massachusetts's ordinary wildfire risk concentrates in spring, before trees leaf out and while last year's leaf litter is still dry and exposed to wind and sun. The state's legal open-burning window — January 15 through May 1 in most towns, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — roughly tracks that same period, though it is a permit calendar rather than a fire-danger forecast.

A typical October sees only about 15 wildfires statewide, which is why what happened in October 2024 stood out so sharply: roughly 200 fires broke out that month alone, and Massachusetts Emergency Management Director Dawn Brantley called the stretch "a historical fall fire season."

That autumn surge is unusual for the Northeast generally, though our North Carolina fire map guide and Michigan fire map guide both describe secondary fall risk windows of their own, just far smaller than what Massachusetts saw in 2024.

Which agencies fight fires in Massachusetts?

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation's Bureau of Forest Fire Control and Forestry sets statewide wildfire policy, tracks fire danger, and coordinates the state's roughly 351 local fire departments, which handle the great majority of initial attack on wildland fires within their own towns.

When a fire outgrows local capacity, the state's Statewide Fire Mobilization Plan brings in mutual-aid crews from other communities — it was activated 15 times between late October and late November 2024 alone. The NIFC Eastern Area Coordination Center supports interagency crews and aircraft for the largest incidents, while NWS Boston/Norton (BOX) issues fire-weather forecasts and Red Flag Warnings.

Where do Massachusetts wildfires usually burn?

Most Massachusetts wildfires start where people are: debris-pile burning, abandoned campfires and equipment use are the leading causes cited by DCR for the 2024 season, meaning most ignitions trace back to backyards, trailheads and roadsides rather than remote wilderness.

Geographically, the Berkshires in the western part of the state have produced the largest fires in the modern record, where steep, forested terrain around Great Barrington, Lee and Williamstown gives fire more contiguous fuel to run through than the more fragmented, developed landscape further east.

When drought conditions are severe enough, that pattern spreads statewide: during the 2024 autumn surge, more than 660 wildfires burned across Massachusetts, threatening more than 550 homes and destroying or damaging seven homes and over 40 outbuildings, according to state officials cited by the Massachusetts Municipal Association.

What are the largest wildfires in Massachusetts history?

Massachusetts does not publish a continuously updated ranked list of its largest wildfires, but three fires define the modern record, each one larger than the last.

The 2021 Clarksburg/Williamstown fire was, at the time, the largest in Massachusetts since 1999, burning through East Mountain, Pine Cobble and Clarksburg State Forest with more than 120 firefighters responding and one hospitalized. The Butternut Fire then surpassed it in November 2024, becoming the largest Massachusetts wildfire in the modern record with no property damage and more than 400 personnel involved in the response.

Why was autumn 2024 so severe for Massachusetts fires?

Massachusetts entered a rapidly deepening drought through the summer and fall of 2024, with parts of the state running 7 to 9 inches below normal rainfall since August. By November, the state had declared critical or significant drought status across most regions, and the National Weather Service issued 14 Red Flag Warnings that month — an all-time monthly record.

The Butternut Fire, on East Mountain between Great Barrington and Lee, was the season's largest single incident: first reported the evening of November 18, 2024, it expanded roughly tenfold within a day to more than 1,100 acres, eventually reaching about 1,670 to 1,700 acres before being declared controlled around November 24.

The drought's reach went beyond forest fires. Katharine Lange, policy director for the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance, noted that "even though many think of droughts as a summer event, our rivers and streams are hurting now in November" — a sign that the same dryness driving wildfire risk was also stressing the broader landscape statewide.

What weather drives Massachusetts fire danger?

NWS Boston/Norton issues a Red Flag Warning when there is high confidence that dry fuels and weather conditions will support extreme fire danger within 24 hours. The core criteria are winds sustained or with frequent gusts of 25 mph or greater, combined with relative humidity at or below 30 percent at any point during the day.

Wind

Sustained or frequent gusts of 25 mph or greater

Humidity

Relative humidity at or below 30 percent at any point in the day

Supplemental factors

Less than 0.25 inches of rain in the prior 5 days, lightning after an extended dry period, a significant dry frontal passage, dry thunderstorms, or a Keetch-Byram Drought Index of 300 or greater in summer

During the 2024 autumn surge, conditions repeatedly cleared that bar — the state's own fire officials pointed to an unusually warm, dry fall pattern rather than any single storm, and warned that fires burning six inches or more underground in dried-out duff were especially difficult to fully extinguish, according to Department of Fire Services spokesperson Jake Wark.

How do burn permits work in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts limits legal open burning to a defined calendar window rather than requiring a permit year-round: open burning is generally allowed only from January 15 through May 1, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., though some municipalities cut the season shorter, ending April 15 or April 30.

Even within that window, you must get a permit in advance from your local fire department and activate it on the specific day you plan to burn, since conditions and air quality can change quickly and departments can rescind permits on short notice. Massachusetts DEP regulations require burning at least 75 feet from any building, and open burning is banned outright in 22 densely built cities and towns.

Outside the legal season, or in a town where open burning is prohibited, residents can call the MassDEP Air Quality Hotline or check MassAir Online before assuming any burning is allowed. During a declared drought or fire danger emergency, like autumn 2024, local departments can suspend burning entirely regardless of the calendar.

How do evacuations work in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts has no statewide Ready-Set-Go or numbered evacuation-level system for wildfire. Evacuations are ordered by local public safety officials for the specific areas affected, with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency's Evacuation Coordination Plan providing a supporting framework rather than issuing orders itself.

During the 2024 autumn fires, evacuations and home threats were handled town by town — more than 550 homes were reported threatened at various points across the season, but the Butternut Fire itself caused no property damage despite its size, a reflection of how much of the burned acreage was forest rather than developed land.

If you are near an active wildfire in Massachusetts, follow instructions from your local fire department or police rather than assuming a nearby smoke column requires you to leave, but always comply immediately with any evacuation order that is issued.

How do you track Massachusetts fires in under a minute?

Because Massachusetts swings between years with almost no wildfire activity and occasional severe drought seasons, the goal of a quick map check is to establish which mode the state is currently in before deciding how closely to watch a given detection.

1. Open the live fire map and filter to Massachusetts, or use "fires near me" to see incidents within a set distance in miles.
2. Check the probability tier first. A low tier with no linked NIFC record is often a small, already-contained local fire department response.
3. Compare "Last NIFC update," "Last satellite heat" and "Last GOES heat" — during a drought season like 2024, fresh heat can appear faster than official perimeters are updated.
4. Check for an active Red Flag Warning and current drought status, since Massachusetts fire risk can shift from negligible to severe within weeks.
5. Note the region — the Berkshires in western Massachusetts have produced the state's largest modern fires, including the 2021 and 2024 Great Barrington-area incidents.
6. For any evacuation guidance, follow your local fire department or police department, and use the app's directions-away links if you need to leave.

Our fire tracker guide explains how each data layer's latency works, and the wildfire map guide covers how to read a state-level view like Massachusetts's during a sudden spike in activity.

What does wildfire smoke do to Massachusetts air quality?

During the 2024 autumn fire season, smoke from active Massachusetts wildfires combined with regional haze to degrade air quality across parts of the state, on top of the smoke Massachusetts regularly receives from much larger fires burning in Canada in other years.

On the EPA's Air Quality Index, a reading of 101 to 150 means sensitive groups — including people with asthma, heart or lung disease, children and older adults — may experience health effects, while 151 to 200 means some members of the general public may be affected too. During an active drought fire season, checking a smoke or air-quality overlay is as important as checking for a nearby fire itself.

Our forest fire smoke tracker guide explains how to read smoke plume forecasts alongside a live fire map, useful in Massachusetts because the source of any given smoky day can be a local wildfire, a distant Canadian fire, or both at once.

Frequently asked questions about the Massachusetts fire map