Santee fires today: fire map, smoke & air quality
Active wildfires within 100 miles of Santee, the air quality and wind right now, fire-weather alerts — and how often fires burn near Santee.
Air quality and wind in Santee
Fire weather alerts for Santee
Wildfire history near Santee
Wildfires within 50 miles, by year
Fires of 10+ acres whose origin was within 50 miles of Santee. 2026 is still in progress.
When fires start near Santee
Peak months: June, July, August — 56% of fires in the last 10 years started in these three months.
0 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. 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.
Major fires near Santee this year
Largest wildfires near Santee since 2015
| Fire | Acres | Year | County | From Santee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valley | 16,390 | 2020 | San Diego, CA | 17 mi |
| Border 3 | 7,609 | 2016 | San Diego, CA | 25 mi |
| Border 2 | 6,625 | 2025 | San Diego, CA | 18 mi |
| Southern | 5,366 | 2021 | San Diego, CA | 33 mi |
| Nixon | 5,192 | 2024 | Riverside, CA | 46 mi |
| Creek 5 | 4,276 | 2020 | San Diego, CA | 43 mi |
Most recent fires near Santee
| Fire | Acres | Discovered | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chia | 51 | 2026-08-20 | 45 mi |
| Dehesa 7 | 94 | 2026-08-19 | 9 mi |
| Church 2 | 132 | 2026-08-17 | 38 mi |
| Beaver | 20 | 2026-08-07 | 11 mi |
| Grade | 689 | 2026-07-31 | 32 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 Santee right now?
The live map at the top of this page shows every active wildfire within 100 miles of Santee from official incident reports, sorted by distance, with acres, containment and the last update time.
How often do wildfires burn near Santee?
From 2016 to 2025, 128 wildfires of 10 acres or more started within 50 miles of Santee — about 13 a year — burning 78,005 acres in total. 56% of them started in June, July and August.
What was the biggest fire near Santee?
The Valley Fire (2020), 16,390 acres, which started about 17 miles from Santee in San Diego County.
Is the air quality in Santee safe today?
The air-quality panel above shows the current US AQI for Santee and a 72-hour forecast. Above 100 (orange), sensitive groups should limit time outdoors; above 150 (red), everyone should. In the last 12 months Santee had 0 modeled smoke days.
Get fire alerts for Santee
Save Santee 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.