US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for the Week Ending June 1st

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) is reporting that as of Thursday, June 1st, seven large wildfires have burned 66,209 acres in six states. One large new wildfire was reported in New Jersey during the week. Nationally, since January 1st, 18,403 wildfires have burned 518,698 acres across the US. Currently the National Preparedness is at a level 2 out of 5.

The National Interagency Coordination Center located at the NIFC reports that it continues to work with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center to support ongoing firefighting in Alberta and British Columbia. Resources from the US include interagency hotshot crews, incident management teams, equipment, and supplies. In addition to the federal firefighting resources, several state wildland fire agencies are also continuing to provide personnel and equipment.

The number of large new fires or emergency responses as of June 1st was one. The number of active large fires (not including individual fires within complexes) stands at seven. Currently there are 66,209 acres involved in active fires. The total number of wildfires contained stands at one. The states reporting large wildfires are Oregon with two and Arizona, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, and North Carolina with one each.

The NIFC offers the following year-to-date comparison:

• From 1/1/23 through 6/1/23, 18,403 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 518,698 acres.
  From 1/1/22 through 6/1/22, 12,708 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 1,920,689 acres.
• The 10-year average (2013–22) for the same period is 21,908 wildfires and 1,016,684 acres burned.

The current wildfire season remains well below the 10-year average, but the NIFC warns that abnormally high temperatures, low humidity levels, and pop-up thunderstorms during the coming weeks will provide suitable fuel for increased wildfire danger.