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

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported that as of Friday, September 1st, 82 large wildfires have burned more than 642,615 acres in 14 states. Three new large fires were reported on Thursday alone. Wildland firefighting resources currently include 20,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel. The National Preparedness Level remains at a 4 out of 5.

In addition, the Southern Geographic Area Coordination Center has recently issued a new Fuels and Fire Behavior Advisory for a multi-state area. Several states have had prolonged hot and dry conditions creating highly flammable fuels and much higher than normal fire activity for this time of year. These adverse conditions will continue into at least mid-September.

The number of large new fires or emergency responses as of September 1st was 3. The number of active large fires stands at 82 (not including individual fires within complexes). Currently, there are 642,615 acres involved in active fires. The total number of wildfires contained currently stands at 10.

The states reporting large wildfires are Oregon with 15; Montana with 13; Idaho with 11; Washington with 9, Alaska with 7; California, Colorado, and Louisiana with 5 each; New Mexico with 4; Texas with 3; Hawaii with 2; and Arizona, Florida, and Mississippi with 1 each.

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

• Year-to-date through September 1st, 39,443 wildfires have been reported and they have burned 2,011,193 acres.
• During the same period last year, 48,498 wildfires had been reported and they had burned 6,172,464 acres.
• The 10-year average (2013–22) for the same period is 41,198 wildfires and 5,244,803 acres burned.