Chicago fires today: fire map, smoke & air quality
Active wildfires within 100 miles of Chicago, the air quality and wind right now, fire-weather alerts — and how often fires burn near Chicago.
Air quality and wind in Chicago
Fire weather alerts for Chicago
Wildfire history near Chicago
Wildfires within 50 miles, by year
Fires of 10+ acres whose origin was within 50 miles of Chicago. 2026 is still in progress.
When fires start near Chicago
Peak months: March, April, November — 93% of fires in the last 10 years started in these three months.
4 days in the last 12 months had modeled daily PM2.5 above 35.4 µg/m³ — the level where air becomes unhealthy for sensitive groups, 1 of them above 55.4 µg/m³ (unhealthy for everyone). The worst day was July 17, 2026 at 58.0 µg/m³. Smoke can come from fires hundreds of miles away, so smoke days and nearby fires don't always line up.
Fire history: NIFC WFIGS incident records 2016–2026. Smoke: Open-Meteo CAMS air-quality model, 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30. Updated 2026-10-01.
Largest wildfires near Chicago since 2015
| Fire | Acres | Year | County | From Chicago |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miller 3 Wildfire | 425 | 2021 | Lake, IN | 26 mi |
| Cat Tail | 76 | 2016 | Will, IL | 44 mi |
| Thatcher | 50 | 2023 | Lake, IN | 20 mi |
| Miller Weather Station | 43 | 2020 | Lake, IN | 25 mi |
| Tolleston 1 | 37 | 2017 | Lake, IN | 28 mi |
| North Clark | 29 | 2021 | Lake, IN | 21 mi |
Most recent fires near Chicago
| Fire | Acres | Discovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clay Fire | 27 | 2024-04-16 | 27 mi |
| Indu Cowles Dunes 25 Bil | 25 | 2023-11-14 | 32 mi |
| Indu Cowles Dunes 25 Bil | 25 | 2023-11-14 | 32 mi |
| Johnson Rd | 15 | 2023-04-14 | 45 mi |
| Thatcher | 50 | 2023-04-12 | 20 mi |
Distances are straight-line from the city center to the fire's point of origin.
Fires and smoke near other cities
Questions
Is there a fire near Chicago right now?
The live map at the top of this page shows every active wildfire within 100 miles of Chicago from official incident reports, sorted by distance, with acres, containment and the last update time.
How often do wildfires burn near Chicago?
From 2016 to 2025, 15 wildfires of 10 acres or more started within 50 miles of Chicago — about 2 a year — burning 849 acres in total. 93% of them started in March, April and November.
What was the biggest fire near Chicago?
The Miller 3 Wildfire (2021), 425 acres, which started about 26 miles from Chicago in Lake County.
Is the air quality in Chicago safe today?
The air-quality panel above shows the current US AQI for Chicago and a 72-hour forecast. Above 100 (orange), sensitive groups should limit time outdoors; above 150 (red), everyone should. In the last 12 months Chicago had 4 modeled smoke days.
Get fire alerts for Chicago
Save Chicago in Wildfire Tracker: distance to the nearest active fire, which side of it you're on relative to the wind, air quality — alerts only for fires that are actually active.