US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for the Week Ending April 19th

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that as of Friday, April 19th, 18 new large wildfires were reported in the last week. Currently, 3 large uncontained wildfires are burning in Kansas, North Carolina, and Virigina. Wildland firefighters and support personnel contained 22 large fires.

The National Preparedness Level remains at 1 out of 5.

The number of large new fires or emergency responses as of April 19th was 17. Currently, there are 5,919 acres actively involved in fires. The total number of wildfires contained stands at 21.

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

• Year-to-date through April 19th, 10,199 wildfires were reported, and they have burned 1,774,404 acres.
• During the same period last year, 11,528 wildfires were reported, and they burned 338,198 acres.
• The 10-year average (2014–23) for the same period is 13,930 wildfires and 695,318 acres burned. The above-average number of acres is due to the wildfires in Texas in late February.

Outlook

The National Interagency Coordination Center predictive services staff released the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook on April 1st. Parts of the Eastern, Rocky Mountain, and Southwest areas could see above normal wildfire potential this month.

A fuels and fire behavior advisory remains in effect for northwest Texas, western Oklahoma, southwest Kansas, southeastern Colorado, and far eastern New Mexico. Should unwanted ignitions occur, wildland fire personnel should expect extreme to unprecedented fire growth and intensity in these areas due to high fuel loads and windy and dry atmospheric conditions, the NIFC said.