U.S. National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for June 27th, 2022 – Wildfire Numbers Continue to Increase at an Alarming Rate

The U.S. National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported on Monday (6-27-22,) that one large new fire was reported yesterday (Sunday 6-26-22), in Nevada. That increases the total number of wildfires currently burning throughout the U.S. to 48, with more than 1,831,782 acres in 11-states now burning. There are currently 32 wildfires burning in Alaska, 4 in Arizona, 2 in New Mexico, 2 in Georgia, 2 in Texas, and 1 each in California, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah. The NIFC is reporting that as of today (6-27-22), that only 1 of the 48 wildfires has been partially contained. There are now 4,400 wildland firefighters and support personnel assigned to these incidents.

The current number of wildfires currently well exceeds both 2021, as well as 10-year averages.

The NIFC offers this simple comparison as an example:

• Between 1/1/22 through 6/27/22 – 32,689 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 3,570,823 acres.
• Between 1/1/21 through 6/27/21 – 30,076 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 1,357,409 acres.

The NIFC notes that past 10-year average, 2012 – 2021, for the same time period was 25,256 wildfires that consumed 1,444,778 acres.

According to the NIFC, many states are experiencing critical weather conditions and near record high temperatures. The continuing, hot, dry, and windy weather patterns across much of the U.S., continues to create favorable conditions for the expansion of current wildfires and increasing the potential for new wildfires to start.