U.S. National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Releases Update for May 12, 2022

On Thursday (5-12-22), the U.S. National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that the 2022 wildfire season continues at a pace well above seasonal norms. The NIFC offers this simple comparison as an example:

• From 1/1/22 through 5/12/22, 24,131 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 1,285,047 acres.
• From 1/1/21 through 5/12/21, 20,781 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 547,047 acres.
• The NIFC notes that 10-year average (2012–2021) for the same time period was 18,007 wildfires that burned 748,606 acres.

In today’s briefing, the NIFC is reporting that no large new fires were reported yesterday (5-11-22). Nationally, nine uncontained large fires have burned 328,189 acres. More than 4,200 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents in the Southwest and Southern areas.

There are currently 9-large and active wildfires burning across 328,189 acres in the U.S. There are 3 each in in New Mexico, and Arizona and 1 each in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Three of the nine fires have been partially contained.