Above average in 2026Updated 4 October 2026
Trend summary
- As of 2 October 2026, 62,738 wildfires have burned 9,000,619 acres in the US this year.
- That is 135% of the ten-year average number of fires and 147% of the average area for the date (National Interagency Fire Center).
- 2025 had more fires than average (77,850) but less area burned (5.1 million acres). Its damage came from where fires burned, not how much.
- Wildfires destroyed 18,385 structures in 2025, most of them in the January Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles.
9.0macres burned in 2026 to 2 Oct
147%of 10-year average area for the date
18,385structures destroyed in 2025
12,773homes among them
What the numbers show
The NIFC National Fire News update for 2 October 2026 shows a heavy year: 62,738 fires against a ten-year average of 46,638 for the date, and 9.0 million acres against an average of 6.1 million.
The comparison with 2025 is instructive. The 2025 NICC annual report counted 77,850 wildfires but only 5,131,474 acres, more than two million acres below the five- and ten-year averages. Yet 2025 destroyed 18,385 structures, including 12,773 homes, and 16,324 of those losses were in Southern California. The Palisades and Eaton fires burned under 38,000 acres combined but killed more than 30 people.
What is driving it
Area burned depends on weather and fuel: dry winters, hot summers and wind. Losses depend on how many homes sit at the edge of wildland, and on wind-driven embers that travel ahead of the flame front. That is why a small fire near a city can matter more than a giant one in empty rangeland.
Recent cases
- January 2025, Los Angeles: the Palisades and Eaton fires, driven by Santa Ana winds, destroyed about 16,000 structures between them.
- 2026 season: large fires across Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Colorado pushed the year well above average by late summer.
Press releases and official reports, 2023–2026
Five key releases a year for the last four years, newest first. Most are from federal agencies; a few news reports are included where they are the clearest public record of an event. Releases from 2007–2022 are in the expandable list after 2023.
2026
- 2 Oct 2026NIFCNational Fire News: year-to-date statistics
- 29 Apr 2026USDASecretary of Agriculture Issues 2026 Wildfire Readiness Memorandum Ahead of Active Fire Season
- 2026NICCWildland Fire Summary and Statistics, Annual Report 2025 (PDF)
- 12 Jan 2026InteriorInterior to Launch U.S. Wildland Fire Service
- 2 Jan 2026NIFCNational Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook, issued January 2, 2026 (PDF)
2025
- 15 Sep 2025Interior / USDADepartments of Interior and Agriculture Announce Wildland Fire Service Plan to Modernize Federal Wildfire Response
- 6 Jun 2025FEMALos Angeles County Wildfire Recovery Continues with Over $3 Billion in Federal Support
- Jun 2025FEMAMaui Wildfires Mitigation Assessment Team Compendium Report (P-2425, PDF)
- 20 May 2025Interior / USDASecretary Burgum and Secretary Rollins Sign Joint Fire Memo Ahead of Peak Fire Season
- 7 Feb 2025FEMAOne Month Later: Federal Support for Wildfire Survivors Nears $700 Million
2024
- 23 Aug 2024CAL FIREPark Fire: Incident Update
- 3 Jun 2024USDABiden-Harris Administration Outlines Strategic Priorities to Strengthen the Nation’s Response to Wildfire
- 29 Feb 2024AgriLife Today (Texas A&M)Largest wildfire in Texas history continues
- 20 Feb 2024USDABiden-Harris Administration Announces $500 Million to Confront the Wildfire Crisis as Part of Investing in America Agenda
- 9 Jan 2024NOAAU.S. struck with historic number of billion-dollar disasters in 2023
2023
- 27 Sep 2023USDABiden-Harris Administration’s Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Releases Report Outlining Comprehensive Recommendations to Change the Nation’s Relationship with Wildfire
- 17 Aug 2023FEMABiden Harris Administration Provides $3.8 Million in Assistance for Hawaii Residents in Wake of Devastating Wildfires
- 31 Jul 2023USDABiden-Harris Administration Announces New Round of Investments in Wildfire Protection through Community Wildfire Defense Grants
- 20 Mar 2023USDABiden-Harris Administration Invests Nearly $200M from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Reduce Wildfire Risk to Communities across State, Private and Tribal Lands
- 19 Jan 2023USDABiden-Harris Administration Launches New Efforts to Address the Wildfire Crisis
View 20 years of major wildfire press releases (2007–2026)80 more from 2007–2022, five a year, newest first
2022
- 17 Nov 2022GAOWildland Fire: Barriers to Recruitment and Retention of Federal Wildland Firefighters
- 9 Aug 2022NASA Earth ObservatoryScarred Land and Smoky Skies
- 14 May 2022NASA Earth ObservatoryNew Mexico Wildfire Spawns Fire Cloud
- 26 Apr 2022NASA Earth ObservatoryWildfires Scorch Northern New Mexico
- 18 Jan 2022USDASecretary Vilsack Announces New 10 Year Strategy to Confront the Wildfire Crisis
2021
- 31 Dec 2021FEMAColorado Wildfires and Straight-line Winds
- 13 Sep 2021NISTDraft California Fire Code Includes NIST Tool to Evaluate Wildfire Hazard
- 22 Aug 2021NASA Earth ObservatoryCalifornia Burning
- 13 May 2021Dept. of the InteriorInterior and Agriculture Departments Outline Wildland Fire Preparedness, Climate Resiliency Plans
- 8 Feb 2021NISTPiecing Together the Timeline of California’s Deadliest Wildfire
2020
- 15 Oct 2020NASA Earth ObservatoryAssessing California Fire Scars
- 28 Sep 2020NASA Earth ObservatoryBobcat Fire Scorches Southern California
- 19 Sep 2020NASA Earth ObservatoryA Meeting of Smoke and Storms
- 15 Sep 2020FEMAOregon Wildfires And Straight-line Winds (DR-4562-OR)
- 22 Aug 2020FEMACalifornia Wildfires (DR-4558-CA)
2019
- 19 Dec 2019GAOWildland Fire: Federal Agencies’ Efforts to Reduce Wildland Fuels and Lower Risk to Communities and Ecosystems
- 30 Oct 2019NASA Earth ObservatoryKincade Fire Grows Overnight
- 25 Sep 2019Dept. of the InteriorIn Case You Missed It: Bernhardt: As a mild fire season comes to an end, here’s how the Department of the Interior prepared for the worst
- 13 Sep 2019NASA Earth ObservatoryWalker Fire
- 19 Feb 2019NASAThe Synoptic View of California’s Camp Fire: A Scorching Reality of Today’s Fires
2018
- 19 Nov 2018NASA Earth ObservatoryCamp Fire Spreads Foul Air in California
- 12 Nov 2018FEMACalifornia Wildfires (DR-4407-CA)
- 10 Nov 2018NASA Earth ObservatoryCamp Fire Rages in California
- 9 Aug 2018NASA Earth ObservatorySmoke Plumes Tower Over California
- 23 Mar 2018USDASecretary Perdue Applauds Fire Funding Fix in Omnibus
2017
- 21 Dec 2017NASA Earth ObservatoryCalifornia’s December Inferno
- 11 Oct 2017NASA Earth ObservatoryExplosive Fires in Northern California
- 10 Oct 2017FEMACalifornia Wildfires
- 10 May 2017GAOWildland Fire Risk Reduction: Multiple Factors Affect Federal-Nonfederal Collaboration, but Action Could Be Taken to Better Measure Progress
- 7 Mar 2017NASA Earth ObservatoryPeople Cause Most U.S. Wildfires
2016
- 15 Dec 2016FEMATennessee Wildfires
- 30 Nov 2016NASA Earth ObservatoryFires Continue to Rage in the Southeast
- 11 Nov 2016NASA Earth ObservatoryDrought and Fire in the Southeast
- 23 Aug 2016NASA Earth ObservatoryIncreased Fire Comes with Increased Health Risks
- 25 Jul 2016NASA Earth ObservatorySoberanes Fire, California
2015
- 17 Nov 2015GAOWildland Fire Management: Agencies’ Efforts to Assess Program Effectiveness and Modernize the Firefighting Aviation Fleet
- 22 Sep 2015FEMACalifornia Valley Fire and Butte Fire
- 10 Sep 2015USDAAs Wildfires Continue to Burn, New Maps Shows Expansion of Wildland-Urban Interface
- 9 Jun 2015USDAAgriculture Secretary Vilsack, Interior Secretary Jewell Outline Wildfire Threat during Upcoming Fire Season
- 10 Mar 2015Dept. of the InteriorSecretary Jewell Issues Strategy to Protect, Restore Sagebrush Lands for 2015 Fire Season
2014
- 18 Sep 2014NASA Earth ObservatoryKing Fire, California
- 13 Aug 2014NASA Earth ObservatoryCarlton Complex Burn Scar
- 21 Jul 2014NASA Earth ObservatoryCarlton Complex Fire, Washington
- 9 Jun 2014USDAUSDA Releases State by State Impacts of Limited Wildfire Suppression in Recent Years
- 2 Apr 2014National Park ServiceYosemite National Park Reopens Areas Affected by Rim Fire
2013
- 13 Sep 2013FEMAArizona – Yarnell Hill Fire Denial of Appeal
- 3 Sep 2013NASA Earth ObservatorySmoke from the Rim Fire
- 20 Aug 2013GAOWildland Fire Management: Improvements Needed in Information, Collaboration, and Planning to Enhance Federal Fire Aviation Program Success
- 2 Jul 2013NASA Earth ObservatoryYarnell Hill Fire, Arizona
- May 2013NISTA Case Study of a Community Affected by the Witch and Guejito Fires: Report #2 – Evaluating the Effects of Hazard Mitigation Actions on Structure Ignitions
2012
- 1 Jul 2012USDAUpdate July 1, 2012: Federal Partners Continue to Support Response Efforts Combating Western Wildfires
- 30 Jun 2012Dept. of the InteriorFederal Wildland Fire-Fighting Agencies Further Strengthen Preparedness, Prevention in Advance of July 4th Holiday
- 28 Jun 2012USDAFederal Partners Commit Additional Resources to Combat Western Wildfires
- 12 Jun 2012Dept. of the InteriorFederal Partners Continue to Support Response to Western Fires
- 7 Jun 2012Dept. of the InteriorThe Departments of Interior and Agriculture Issue National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy Phase II National Report
2011
- 16 Dec 2011GAOStation Fire: Forest Service’s Response Offers Potential Lessons for Future Wildland Fire Management
- 13 Sep 2011NASA Earth ObservatoryBastrop County Complex Fire Burn Scar
- 1 Jul 2011FEMATexas Wildfires (DR-1999)
- 20 Jun 2011Dept. of the InteriorReadout of Secretary Salazar and BLM Director Abbey’s Visit to Fire Incident Command Post in Arizona
- 28 Mar 2011Dept. of the InteriorDepartments of Interior and Agriculture Improve Wildland Fire Management
2010
- 7 Dec 2010NTSBCrash During Takeoff of Carson Helicopters, Inc. Firefighting Helicopter Under Contract to the U.S. Forest Service Sikorsky S-61N, N612AZ, Near Weaverville, California, August 5, 2008
- 17 Sep 2010NASA JPLASTER Maps Fourmile Canyon Fire Near Boulder, Colo.
- 22 Jun 2010NASA Earth ObservatorySchultz Fire North of Flagstaff, AZ
- 17 Jun 2010Dept. of the InteriorSecretaries Vilsack and Salazar Announce Readiness for Wildfire Season
- 21 Apr 2010Dept. of the InteriorSecretaries of Agriculture, Interior and Homeland Security Announce Partnership to Develop Comprehensive Wildfire Management Strategy
2009
- 9 Sep 2009GAOWildland Fire Management: Federal Agencies Have Taken Important Steps Forward, but Additional, Strategic Action is Needed to Capitalize on Those Steps
- 8 Sep 2009NASA JPLExtent of Station Fire Burn Seen in New NASA Image
- 16 Jun 2009NISTNIST Study Offers First Detailed Look at the Progress of a Wildland-Urban Fire
- 21 May 2009Dept. of the InteriorSecretary Salazar Announces $15 Million Investment in Hazardous Fuel Reduction Projects, Biomass Production on Public Lands
- 1 Apr 2009GAOWildland Fire Management: Actions by Federal Agencies and Congress Could Mitigate Rising Fire Costs and Their Effects on Other Agency Programs
2008
- 24 Nov 2008GAOWildland Fire Management: Interagency Budget Tool Needs Further Development to Fully Meet Key Objectives
- 18 Nov 2008NASA Earth ObservatoryFires in California
- 15 Jul 2008NASA Earth ObservatorySiskiyou Complex Fire, Northern California
- 3 Jul 2008NASA Earth ObservatoryBasin Complex Fire Near Big Sur, California
- 12 Feb 2008GAOWildland Fire Management: Federal Agencies Lack Key Long- and Short-Term Management Strategies for Using Program Funds Effectively
2007
- 27 Oct 2007NASA Earth ObservatoryWitch Fire
- 25 Oct 2007NASA Earth ObservatoryFires in Southern California
- 28 Sep 2007GAOWildland Fire Management: Better Information and a Systematic Process Could Improve Agencies’ Approach to Allocating Fuel Reduction Funds and Selecting Projects
- 29 Jun 2007NASA Earth ObservatoryAngora Fire, Lake Tahoe
- 19 Jun 2007GAOWildland Fire Management: A Cohesive Strategy and Clear Cost-Containment Goals Are Needed for Federal Agencies to Manage Wildland Fire Activities Effectively
Photo list
How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases linked above; where agencies publish preliminary numbers we say so, because they are revised. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.