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MP-18 Fire near Hoopa reported at 2,803 acres, with sources at odds on its size

California's MP-18 Fire, first reported on August 7, 2026, remains active on its northeastern perimeter; outlets give sharply different figures for how much has burned, and no containment figure is on the record here.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 8, 2026, 1:52 p.m. ETWritten Aug 12, 2026, 11:26 p.m. ET
The wildfire burning in known as the MP-18 Fire, or Mile Post 18 Fire, had reached according to reporting by the Mendocino Beacon, the Times-Standard, the Ukiah Daily Journal, The Press Democrat and The Willits News. The New York Post reported a smaller figure of . The two figures cannot be reconciled from the available reporting, and the discrepancy is unresolved. The incident name itself is not rendered uniformly. The East Bay Times, the Times-Standard, The Press Democrat, The Willits News, The Mercury News and the Mendocino Beacon call it the MP-18 Fire, or Mile Post 18 Fire; the New York Post calls it the . No containment figure has been reported on the record for this fire in the material this account is drawn from. Readers should treat that as an absence of information rather than as a statement that nothing has been contained: absent is not zero, and no percentage should be inferred from the silence. The coverage underlying this account was published between August 8 and August 12, 2026. The fire was discovered on , 2026, according to the East Bay Times, the Times-Standard, the Mendocino Beacon, the Ukiah Daily Journal and The Mercury News. The Press Democrat and The Willits News also placed the start on . The New York Post reported a discovery time of 7 p.m. on . Accounts of fire behaviour differ, and no one account outweighs the others. The East Bay Times, the Times-Standard, the Mendocino Beacon, the Ukiah Daily Journal and The Press Democrat reported that active early morning fire behaviour persisted on the northeastern perimeter because of heavy, dry fuels and complex terrain, with spot fires ahead of the main fire along the eastern boundary; The Willits News and The Mercury News described the same active early morning behaviour and spot fires without saying it persisted, and the Times-Standard elsewhere placed those spot fires along the eastern boundary of the MP-18 Fire specifically. The New York Post instead described a fast-moving wildfire burning on both sides of Highway 96, with flames reaching the roadway. The cause of the fire has not been determined. The situation remains developing, and no casualty figures appear in the available reporting.

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Revision history

  1. Version 213 Aug 2026, 17:09

    Added the Times-Standard's 3,937-acre figure to the size range and replaced the 'no containment reported' passage with the conflicting 6% and roughly 10% containment figures dated to Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

  2. Version 113 Aug 2026, 03:26current

    First published.

  3. Version 113 Aug 2026, 01:50

    First published.

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