US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for June 17th

In an update on Monday, the US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that 12 new large incidents were reported over the weekend, and a total of 17 large, uncontained wildfires are currently being managed under full suppression strategies, while 8 are being managed with strategies other than full suppression. The National Preparedness Level remains at a 2 out of 5.

Much of the new fire activity was in California, including the Post Fire which is currently exhibiting extreme fire behavior, prompting evacuations and closures. A complex management team has been assigned to the fire.

As of Monday, 25 active large wildfires have burned 102,817 acres in 8 states. Seven large wildfires are burning in California, with 5 wildfires burning in Alaska, 4 in Arizona, 3 in New Mexico, 2 each in Colorado and Washington, and 1 each in Oregon and Utah. The number of wildfires contained stands at 4.

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

• Year-to-date through June 17th, 18,594 wildfires were reported, and they have burned 2,085,164 acres.
• During the same period last year, 21,495 wildfires were reported, and they had burned 1,378,710 acres.
• The 10-year average (2014–23) for the same period is 24,304 wildfires and 1,176,751 acres burned. The above-average number of acres is due to the wildfires in Texas in late February.

Seasonably normal temperatures will persist over much of the Southwest where elevated to critical fire weather conditions are predicted for most of Arizona, the southern Great Basin, western New Mexico, and far southern California due to an increase in southwesterly flow and low relative humidity. Portions of the southern Sierra Nevada and western Nevada will also reach critical levels due to strong winds and poor overnight humidity recoveries.

On June 1st, the NIFC national predictive services Staff at the National Interagency Coordination Center released the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for June through September.