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Updated January 4, 2021
Wildfire Statistics
Wildfires are unplanned and unwanted fires, including
Figure 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
lightning-caused fires, unauthorized human-caused fires,
(1991-2020)
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 (NFS). 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 (2011-2020), there were an average
the last 30 years and that the number of acres impacted
of 62,693 wildfires annually and an average of 7.5 million
annually, while also variable, generally has increased (see
acres impacted annually.
Figure 1). Since 2000, an annual average of 70,685
wildfires burned an annual average of 7.1 million acres.
In 2020, over 58,250 wildfires burned 10.3 million acres,
This figure is more than double the average annual acreage
the most acreage impacted in a year (see Figure 2); nearly
burned in the 1990s (3.3 million acres), although a greater
40% of these acres were in California. Nearly half of the
number of fires occurred annually in the 1990s (78,600 on
acres impacted were on NFS lands. This report will be
average).
updated with additional 2020 summary statistics when
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
those figures are available.
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
Acreage Burned Since 1960
Number of Fires (thousands)
Federal
13.8
12.6
15.2
12.5
10.9
FS
7.1
5.7
6.6
5.6
5.3
DOI
6.6
6.8
7.3
7.0
5.3
Nonfederal
54.4
55.2
56.4
45.6
39.6
Total
68.2
67.7
71.5
58.1
50.5
Acres Burned (millions)
Federal
7.41
3.00
6.3
4.6
3.1
Source: NIFC.
FS
1.92
1.25
2.9
2.3
0.6
Note: Number of fires in thousands.
DOI
5.47
1.70
3.3
2.3
2.3
The number of fires and acreage burned are indicators of
Nonfederal
2.72
2.51
3.7
4.1
1.6
the annual level of wildfire activity, but they may be
misleading, since many fires may occur in large, relatively
Total
10.13
5.51
10.0
8.8
4.7
undeveloped areas, with very little impact to human
Source: National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
development or communities. Acreage burned also does not
Notes: Federal includes fires that began on land managed by the
indicate the severity of the wildfire or the degree of impact
Forest Service (FS), Department of the Interior (DOI), and other
to the forest, soils, or any other ecological effects.
federal agencies (not listed). Nonfederal includes al other lands.
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
In 2019, 65% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
was on federal lands (3.1 million acres; see Table 1). The
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Wildfire Statistics
other 35% 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 (39,611). Of the federal acreage burned nationwide in
ecological resources, wildfires also may have a devastating
2019, 75% (2.3 million acres) burned on DOI land (mostly
impact, especially for those communities affected by
in Alaska) and 20% (0.6 million acres) burned on FS land
wildfire activity. Therefore, statistics showing the level of
(see Figure 3). Most wildfires are human-caused (88% on
destruction a wildfire causes can be useful, such as acres
average from 2015 to 2019), although the wildfires caused
burned, lives lost (firefighters and civilians), and structures
by lightning tend to be slightly larger and burn more
(residential, commercial, and other) destroyed. Table 2
acreage (55% of the average acreage burned from 2015 to
provides some of this data, as well as firefighter personnel
2019 was ignited by lightning).
data.
Figure 3. Percentage of Acreage Burned by
Table 2. FS and DOI Personnel and Loss Statistics
Landowner
2016
2017
2018
2019
Personnel
FS Firefighters
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
DOI Firefighters
4,129
4,514
4,492
4,442
Losses
Structures Burned
4,312
12,306
25,790
963
% Residences
74%
66%
70%
46%
Sources: Agency budget justifications and NIFC’s Wildland Fire
Summary and Statistics Annual Reports.
Source: NIFC.
Notes: Personnel data reflect fiscal year data; structures and
residences burned reflect calendar-year data.
More wildfires occur in the East (including the central
states), but the wildfires in the West are larger and burn
Conflagrations
more acreage (including Alaska, Arizona, California,
Of the 1.4 million wildfires that have occurred since 2000,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon,
197 exceeded 100,000 acres, and 13 exceeded 500,000
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). In 2019, over 29,600
acres. Only a small fraction of wildfires become
fires burned 0.6 million acres in the East, compared with
catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires accounts for
nearly 21,000 wildfires that burned nearly 4.1 million acres
the vast majority of acres burned. For example, only about
in the West (see Table 1). In the East (where there is less
1% of wildfires become conflagrations—raging, destructive
federal acreage), most of the fires occur on nonfederal
fires—but predicting which fires will “blow up” into
lands, whereas in the West most of the fires occur on
conflagrations is challenging and depends on a multitude of
federal lands (see Figure 4). In 2019, 81% (0.5 million
factors, such as weather and geography. In 2019, 2% of
acres) of the acreage burned in the East was on nonfederal
wildfires were classified as large or significant (806) and 27
land, whereas 72% (2.9 million acres) of the acreage burned
wildfires exceeded 40,000 acres in size, 19 of which
in the West was on federal land. The acreage burned in
occurred in Alaska. Nine of the largest fires in 2019 also
Alaska in 2019 (2.5 million acres) accounts for more than
exceeded 100,000 acres. There were more large or
half the acreage burned in the West. It primarily occurred
significant wildfires in 2018: 1,167 (2% of the total fires
on federal land (1.7 million acres).
that year), 48 of which exceeded 40,000 acres in size and
11 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
Report R46583, Federal Wildfire Management: Ten-Year
Funding Trends and Issues (FY2011-FY2020); CRS In
Focus IF10732, Federal Assistance for Wildfire Response
and Recovery; or CRS Insight IN11487, 2020 Wildfire
Season: Brief Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources.
Source: NIFC.
Katie Hoover, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Laura A. Hanson, Senior Research Librarian
IF10244
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Wildfire Statistics
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