US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update For May 21st

On Tuesday, the US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported a significant increase in wildland fire activity in multiple geographic areas.

While fire managers are able to handle the current fire situation with available resources, there is potential that the existing conditions could change, NIFC said. As a result, the National Preparedness Level has been raised to a 2 out of 5.

As of Tuesday, 7 new large wildfires have burned 35,413 acres in 4 states. The number of large new fires or emergency responses was 4. Four large wildfires are burning in Arizona, with one large wildfire burning in Alaska, New Mexico, and Oregon. The total number of wildfires fires contained currently stands at 4.

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

• Year-to-date through May 21st, 14,641 wildfires were reported, and they have burned 1,883,689 acres.
• During the same period last year, 16,317 wildfires were reported, and they burned 487,867 acres.
• The 10-year average (2014–23) for the same period is 20,164 wildfires and 950,622 acres burned. The above-average number of acres is due to the wildfires in Texas in late February.