San Diego fires today: fire map, smoke & air quality
Active wildfires within 100 miles of San Diego, the air quality and wind right now, fire-weather alerts — and how often fires burn near San Diego.
Air quality and wind in San Diego
Fire weather alerts for San Diego
Wildfire history near San Diego
Wildfires within 50 miles, by year
Fires of 10+ acres whose origin was within 50 miles of San Diego. 2026 is still in progress.
When fires start near San Diego
Peak months: May, June, July — 51% of fires in the last 10 years started in these three months.
6 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. The worst day was August 29, 2026 at 41.1 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, 2025-09-29 to 2026-09-28. Updated 2026-09-29.
Largest wildfires near San Diego since 2015
| Fire | Acres | Year | County | From San Diego |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley | 16,390 | 2020 | San Diego, CA | 27 mi |
| Border 3 | 7,609 | 2016 | San Diego, CA | 31 mi |
| Border 2 | 6,625 | 2025 | San Diego, CA | 20 mi |
| Southern | 5,366 | 2021 | San Diego, CA | 46 mi |
| Creek 5 | 4,276 | 2020 | San Diego, CA | 48 mi |
| Lilac 5 | 4,100 | 2017 | San Diego, CA | 44 mi |
Most recent fires near San Diego
| Fire | Acres | Discovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dehesa 7 | 94 | 2026-08-19 | 21 mi |
| Church 2 | 132 | 2026-08-17 | 47 mi |
| Beaver | 20 | 2026-08-07 | 19 mi |
| Grade | 689 | 2026-07-31 | 44 mi |
| Creelman | 347 | 2026-07-22 | 28 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 San Diego right now?
The live map at the top of this page shows every active wildfire within 100 miles of San Diego from official incident reports, sorted by distance, with acres, containment and the last update time.
How often do wildfires burn near San Diego?
From 2016 to 2025, 97 wildfires of 10 acres or more started within 50 miles of San Diego — about 10 a year — burning 60,928 acres in total. 51% of them started in May, June and July.
What was the biggest fire near San Diego?
The Valley Fire (2020), 16,390 acres, which started about 27 miles from San Diego in San Diego County.
Is the air quality in San Diego safe today?
The air-quality panel above shows the current US AQI for San Diego and a 72-hour forecast. Above 100 (orange), sensitive groups should limit time outdoors; above 150 (red), everyone should. In the last 12 months San Diego had 6 modeled smoke days.
Get fire alerts for San Diego
Save San Diego 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.