US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for October 24th: 8 of 32 Partially Contained

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported on Monday (10-24-22) that the total number of large wildfires and complexes currently burning in the US has been reduced to 32 from last week’s report of 72. More than 463,512 acres are currently burning across 8 different states, with 10 new wildfires have been reported within the past 24 hours.

There are now more than 2,700 wildland fire personnel assigned to incidents across the US. The NIFC National Fire Preparedness Level remains at a Level 2 out of a possible 5, as the wildfire season winds down but still remains dangerous.

Most of the wildfire activity is now located in the state of Washington, where there are currently 13 wildfires burning. There are 5 wildfires burning in Idaho, 3 each in Oregon and Kentucky, 2 in Oklahoma, and one each in Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas. Of the 32 wildfires still burning, 8 have been partially contained.

The current number of wildfires continue to well exceed the 2021 level, which up until now held the record high level, and is more than double the 10-year average. The NIFC offers the following updated comparison:

• From 1/1/22 through 10/24/22, 58,093 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 7,153,698 acres.
• From 1/1/21 through 10/24/21, 48,179 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 6,520,053 acres.
• The 10-year average (2012-21) for the same time period is 47,848 wildfires having consumed 6,739,651 acres.

NIFC meteorologists continue to report that weather conditions in many parts of the US remain favorable for wildfire ignition or expansion. NIFC meteorologists are noting that an upcoming change in the weather pattern could possibly help to slow and extinguish several of the wildfires that are currently burning and help to prevent new wildfires from starting.