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Updated August 1, 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: National Interagency Fire Center (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 were 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, generally has 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).
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
As of August 1, 2019, 38,474 wildfires have burned 3.9
million acres this year. Most of the acreage burned to date

2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
has occurred in Alaska (2.4 million acres).
Number of Fires (thousands)
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
Federal
13.0
13.8
12.6
15.2
12.5
Acreage Burned Since 1960
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

DOI
1.24
5.47
1.70
3.3
2.3
Source: NIFC.
Nonfederal
1.4
2.72
2.51
3.7
4.1
Although the number of fires and acreage burned are
Total
3.60
10.13
5.51
10.0
8.8
indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity, they also
may be misleading, since many fires may occur in areas
Source: National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
that are large and relatively undeveloped, with very little
Notes: Federal includes fires that began on land managed by the
impact to human development or communities. Acreage
Forest Service (FS), Department of the Interior (DOI), and other
burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire or
federal agencies (not listed). Nonfederal includes al other lands.
the degree of impact to the forest, soils, or any other
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
ecological effects.

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Wildfire Statistics
In 2018, 53% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
Wildfire Damages
was on federal lands (4.6 million acres; see Table 1). The
Although wildfires may have a beneficial impact on
other 47% of the acreage burned occurred on state, local, or
ecological resources, wildfires also may have a devastating
privately owned lands but also accounted for 78% of the
impact, especially for those communities affected by
fires (45,559). Of the federal acreage burned nationwide in
wildfire activity. Therefore, statistics showing the level of
2018, 26% (2.313 million acres) burned on DOI land and
destruction a wildfire causes can be useful, such as acres
nearly the same amount, 26% (2.307 million acres), burned
burned, lives lost (firefighters and civilians), and structures
on FS land (see Figure 3). Most wildfires are human-
destroyed, as well as suppression costs. Firefighter
caused (88% on average from 2014 to 2018), although the
personnel data for the FS and DOI, firefighter fatalities, and
wildfires caused by lightning tend to be slightly larger and
structures burned are provided in Table 2.
burn more acreage (51% of the average acreage burned
from 2014 to 2018 was ignited by lightning).
Table 2. FS and DOI Personnel and Loss Statistics
Figure 3. Percentage of Acreage Burned

2015
2016
2017
2018
by Landowner
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

structures burned reflect calendar-year data.
Source: NIFC.
Conflagrations
More wildfires occur in the East (including the central
Of the 1.4 million wildfires that have occurred since 2000,
states), but the wildfires in the West are larger and burn
189 exceeded 100,000 acres, and 13 exceeded 500,000
more acreage (including Alaska, Arizona, California,
acres. Only a small fraction of wildfires become
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon,
catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires accounts for
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). In 2018, nearly 36,200
the vast majority of acres burned. For example, only about
fires burned 1.7 million acres in the East, compared with
1% of wildfires become conflagrations—raging, destructive
nearly 22,000 wildfires that burned more than 7.0 million
fires—but predicting which fires will “blow up” into
acres in the West (see Table 1). In the East (where there is
conflagrations is challenging and depends on a multitude of
less federal acreage), most of the fires occur on nonfederal
factors, such as weather and geography. In 2018, 2% of
lands, whereas in the West most of the fires occur on
wildfires were classified as large or significant (1,167) and
federal lands (see Figure 4). In 2018, 87% (1.5 million
48 wildfires exceeded 40,000 acres in size, 11 of which also
acres) of the acreage burned in the East was on nonfederal
exceeded 100,000 acres. There were more large or
land, whereas 63% (4.4 million acres) of the acreage burned
significant wildfires in 2017: 1,409 (2% of the total fires
in the West was on federal land.
that year), 51 of which exceeded 40,000 acres in size and
12 of which exceeded 100,000 acres.
Figure 4. Acreage Burned by Region and Landowner
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
Laura A. Hanson, Senior Research Librarian
Source: NIFC.
IF10244
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Wildfire Statistics


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