US National Interagency Fire Center Wildfire Update for Week Ending May 24th

The US National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported on Friday that seven large fires had burned 32,671 acres in seven states.

On Thursday, wildland firefighters and support personnel contained the Peg Leg and Wolf fires in Arizona. There were no large new fires reported on Friday. The National Preparedness Level remains at a 2 out of 5.

As of Friday, ten new large wildfires have burned 38,606 acres in six states. The number of large new fires or emergency responses was four. Three large wildfires are being reported in Alaska, with two in Florida and New Mexico, and one each in Alaska, California, and Colorado.

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

• Year-to-date through May 24th, 14,946 wildfires were reported, and they have burned 1,896,612 acres.
• During the same period last year, 17,194 wildfires were reported, and they burned 497,712 acres.
• The 10-year average (2014–23) for the same period is 20,891 wildfires and 990,556 acres burned. The above-average number of acres is due to the wildfires in Texas in late February.