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Updated May 31, 2019
Wildfire Statistics
Wildfires are unplanned and unwanted fires, including
Figure 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
lightning-caused fires, unauthorized human-caused fires,
(1988-2017)
and escaped prescribed fire projects. States are responsible
for responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state,
local, and private) lands, except for lands protected by
federal agencies under cooperative agreements. The federal
government is responsible for responding to wildfires that
begin on federal lands. The Forest Service (FS)—within the
U.S. Department of Agriculture—carries out wildfire
management and response across the 193 million acres of
the National Forest System. The Department of the Interior
(DOI) manages wildfire response for more than 400 million
acres of national parks, wildlife refuges and preserves, other
public lands, and Indian reservations.
Wildfire statistics help to illustrate past U.S. wildfire
Source: NIFC.
activity. Nationwide data compiled by the National
Note: Data reflect wildland fires and acres burned nationwide,
Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) indicate that the number of
including wildland fires on federal and nonfederal lands.
annual wildfires is variable but has decreased slightly over
Over the past 10 years, there was an average of 67,000
the last 30 years and that the number of acres burned
wildfires annually and an average of 7.0 million acres
annually, while also variable, has generally increased (see
burned annually. In 2018, 58,083 wildfires burned 8.8
Figure 1). Every year since 2000, an average of 72,400
million acres nationwide, the sixth-largest figure on record
wildfires burned an average of 7.0 million acres. This figure
in terms of acreage burned. The 2015 fire season was the
is nearly double the average annual acreage burned in the
largest, with 10.1 million acres burned (see Figure 2). More
1990s (3.3 million acres), although a greater number of
than half of these acres were in Alaska (5.1 million acres).
fires occurred annually in the 1990s (78,600 on average).
As of May 24, 2019, 13,422 wildfires have burned 243,163
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
acres this year.
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
Number of Fires (thousands)
Acreage Burned Since 1960
Federal
13.0
13.8
12.6
15.2
12.5
FS
6.8
7.1
5.7
6.6
5.6
DOI
6.1
6.6
6.8
7.3
7.0
Nonfederal
50.6
54.4
55.2
56.4
45.6
Total
63.6
68.2
67.7
71.5
58.1
Acres Burned (millions)
Federal
2.15
7.41
3.00
6.3
4.6
FS
0.87
1.92
1.25
2.9
2.3
Source: NIFC.
DOI
1.24
5.47
1.70
3.3
2.3
Although the number of fires and acreage burned are
Nonfederal
1.4
2.72
2.51
3.7
4.1
indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity, they may
Total
3.60
10.13
5.51
10.0
8.8
also be misleading, since many fires may occur in areas that
are large and relatively undeveloped, with very little impact
Source: NIFC.
to human development or communities. Acreage burned
Notes: Federal includes fires that began on land managed by the
also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire or the
Forest Service (FS), Department of the Interior (DOI), and other
degree of impact to the forest, soils, or any other ecological
federal agencies (not listed). Nonfederal includes al other lands.
effects.
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
In 2018, 53% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
was on federal lands (4.6 million acres; see Table 1). The
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Wildfire Statistics
other 47% of the acreage burned occurred on state, local, or
Wildfire Damages
privately owned lands but also accounted for 78% of the
Although wildfires may have a beneficial impact on
fires (45,559). Of the federal acreage burned nationwide in
ecological resources, wildfires may also have a devastating
2018, 26% (2.313 million acres) burned on DOI land, and
impact, especially for those communities affected by
nearly the same amount, 26% (2.307 million acres) burned
wildfire activity. Therefore, statistics showing the level of
on FS land (see Figure 3). Most wildfires are human-
destruction a wildfire causes can be useful, such as acres
caused (88% on average from 2014 to 2018), although the
burned, lives lost (firefighters and civilians), structures
wildfires caused by lightning tend to be slightly larger and
destroyed, and suppression costs. Firefighter personnel data
burn more acreage. (Fifty-one percent of the average
for the FS and DOI, firefighter fatalities, and structures
acreage burned from 2014 to 2018 was ignited by
burned are provided in Table 2.
lightning.)
Table 2. FS and DOI Personnel and Loss Statistics
Figure 3. Percentage of Acreage Burned
by Landowner
2015
2016
2017
2018
Personnel
FS firefighters
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
DOI firefighters
3,997
4,129
4,514
4,492
Losses
Firefighter fatalities
13
12
14
19
Structures burned
4,636
4,312
12,306
25,790
Sources: Agency budget justifications, emails, NIFC’s Historical Wildland
Firefighter Fatality Reports, and NIFC’s Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics Annual
Reports.
Note: Personnel data reflect fiscal year data. Firefighter fatalities and
Source: NIFC.
structures burned reflect calendar-year data.
More wildfires occur in the East (including the central
Conflagrations
states), but the wildfires in the West (including Alaska,
Of the 1.4 million wildfires that have occurred since 2000,
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New
189 exceeded 100,000 acres, and 13 exceeded 500,000
Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and
acres. Only a small fraction of wildfires become
Wyoming) are larger and burn more acreage. In 2018,
catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires accounts for
nearly 36,200 fires burned 1.7 million acres in the East,
the vast majority of acres burned. For example, only about
compared with nearly 22,000 wildfires that burned more
1% of wildfires become conflagrations—raging, destructive
than 7.0 million acres in the West (see Table 1). In the East
fires—but predicting which fires will “blow up” into
(where there is less federal acreage), most of the fires occur
conflagrations is challenging and depends on a multitude of
on nonfederal lands, whereas in the West most of the fires
factors, such as weather and geography. In 2018, 2% of
occur on federal lands (see Figure 4). In 2018, 87% (1.5
wildfires were classified as large or significant (1,167) and
million acres) of the acreage burned in the East was on
48 wildfires exceeded 40,000 acres in size, 11 of which also
nonfederal land, whereas 63% (4.4 million acres) of the
exceeded 100,000 acres. There were more large or
acreage burned in the West was on federal land.
significant wildfires in 2017: 1,409 (2% of the total fires
that year), 51 of which exceeded 40,000 acres in size and
Figure 4. Acreage Burned by Region and Landowner
12 of which exceeded 100,000 acres.
Issues for Congress
Issues for Congress include the strategies and resources
used for wildfire management and the impact of wildfires
on both the quality of life and the economy of communities
surrounding wildfire activity. Congress also considers the
total federal cost of wildfire management, including the
cost of suppression operations, costs that vary annually and
are difficult to predict.
For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10732, Federal
Assistance for Wildfire Response and Recovery.
Katie Hoover, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Source: NIFC.
Laura A. Hanson, Senior Research Librarian
IF10244
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Wildfire Statistics
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