US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update as of October 7th

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that as of Monday, October 7th, 27 large active wildfires are being managed with full suppression strategies nationwide. Current fires have burned 1,212,359 acres.

The National Wildfire Preparedness Level has been raised to a 4 out of 5. More than 10,200 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents, including 15 complex incident management teams, 192 crews, 600 engines, and 85 helicopters. Three complex incident management teams have been mobilized in Florida and North Carolina in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

NIFC says that weather in many parts of the US is increasing wildfire danger. Well above normal, record-setting temperatures will continue in the Southwest and southern California, with well above normal temperatures throughout the northern Intermountain West and much of the Plains. Minimum relative humidity will be 5–20% for much of the West, with minima of 15–25% on the Plains. Dry conditions will continue across the Midwest and much of the Mississippi Valley as well, where relative humidity will fall as low as 20%, although winds will be light.

Daily Statistics

As of Monday, there was 1 large new fire being reported, and in total there are 27 active large wildfires that have burned 1,212,359 acres in 7 states. Idaho has 15 wildfires; Oregon has 8; California has 4; Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming have 2 each; and Utah has 1. Just 1 of the 27 wildfires is contained.

The updated year-to-date comparison is as follows:

• Year-to-date through October 7th, 39,667 wildfires were reported, and they have burned 7,612,633 acres.
• During the same period last year, 46,173 wildfires were reported, and they had burned 2,491,885 acres.
• The 10-year average (2014–23) for the same period is 47,223 wildfires and 6,167,813 acres burned.