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Updated September 8, 2021
Wildfire Statistics
Wildfires are unplanned and unwanted fires, including
Notes: FS = Forest Service; DOI = Department of the Interior.
lightning-caused fires, unauthorized human-caused fires,
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
and escaped prescribed fire projects. States are responsible
for responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state,
Figure 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned, 1991-2020
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
activity. Nationwide data compiled by the National
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) indicate that the
Note: Data reflect wildland fires and acres burned nationwide,
number of annual wildfires is variable but has decreased
including wildland fires on federal and nonfederal lands.
slightly over the last 30 years and the number of acres
affected annually, while also variable, generally has
From 2011 to 2020, there were an average of 62,805
increased (see Figure 1). Since 2000, an annual average of
wildfires annually and an average of 7.5 million acres
70,600 wildfires has burned an annual average of 7.0
impacted annually. In 2020, 58,950 wildfires burned 10.1
million acres. This figure is more than double the average
million acres, the second-most acreage impacted in a year
annual acreage burned in the 1990s (3.3 million acres),
(see Figure 2) since 1960; nearly 40% of these acres were
although a greater number of fires occurred annually in the
in California. Nearly half of the acres impacted were on
1990s (78,600 average).
NFS lands. These official figures from NICC reflect
downward revisions from earlier reported data for 2020.
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
As of September 8, 2021, nearly 44,000 wildfires have
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
impacted over 5.1 million acres. The nationwide
Number of Fires (thousands)
preparedness level has been at the maximum level (5) since
July 14, 2021, suggesting a sustained and significant
Federal
12.6
15.2
12.5
10.9
14.4
commitment of shared resources.
FS
5.7
6.6
5.6
5.3
6.7
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
DOI
6.8
7.3
7.0
5.3
7.6
Acreage Burned Since 1960
Other
<0.1
1.2
0.1
0.2
<0.1
Nonfederal
55.2
56.4
45.6
39.6
44.6
Total
67.7
71.5
58.1
50.5
59.0
Acres Burned (millions)
Federal
3.0
6.3
4.6
3.1
7.1
FS
1.2
2.9
2.3
0.6
4.8
DOI
1.7
3.3
2.3
2.3
2.3
Other
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
Nonfederal
2.5
3.7
4.1
1.6
3.1
Note: Number of fires in thousands.
Total
5.5
10.0
8.8
4.7
10.1
The number of fires and acreage burned are indicators of
Source: National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC)
the annual level of wildfire activity. However, these
Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
numbers may be misleading with respect to their impact on
human development or communities since many fires may
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Wildfire Statistics
occur in large, relatively undeveloped areas. Acreage
Figure 4. Acreage Burned by Region and Ownership
burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire,
the degree of impact upon forests or soils, or other
ecological effects.
In 2020, 70% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
was on federal lands (7.1 million acres; see Table 1). The
other 30% of the acreage burned occurred on state, local, or
privately owned lands. Fires on these lands (44,568)
accounted for 76% of total fires. Of the federal acreage
burned nationwide in 2020, 68% (4.8 million acres) burned
on FS land and 32% (2.3 million acres) burned on DOI land
(see Figure 3). Most wildfires are human-caused (88% on
average from 2016 to 2020), although the wildfires caused
by lightning tend to be slightly larger and burn more
acreage (55% of the average acreage burned from 2016 to
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
2020 was ignited by lightning).
Notes: West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, HI, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA,
and WY. East: All other states, including Puerto Rico.
Figure 3. Percentage Acreage Burned by Ownership
Wildfire Damages
Although wildfires may have a beneficial impact on
ecological resources, wildfires also may have devastating
impacts, especially for communities affected by wildfire
activity. Therefore, statistics showing the level of
destruction a wildfire causes can provide useful metrics,
such as acres burned or impacted, lives lost (firefighters and
civilians), and structures (residential, commercial, and
other) destroyed. Table 2 provides some of these data. In
2020, more than 17,000 structures were burned in wildfires,
the majority of which occurred in California.
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
Table 2. Loss Statistics
2017
2018
2019
2020
More wildfires occur in the East (including the central
states), but the wildfires in the West are larger and burn
Structures Burned
12,306
25,790
963
17,904
more acreage (including Alaska, Arizona, California,
% Residences
66%
70%
46%
54%
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon,
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). In 2020, nearly 26,000
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
wildfires burned approximately 9.5 million acres in the
West, compared with the over 33,000 fires that burned just
Conflagrations
under 0.7 million acres in the East. In the East (where there
Of the 1.5 million wildfires that have occurred since 2000,
is less federal acreage), most of the fires occur on
224 exceeded 100,000 acres burned and 14 exceeded
nonfederal lands, whereas in the West most of the fires
500,000 acres burned. Only a small fraction of wildfires
occur on federal lands (see Figure 4). In 2020, 81% (0.5
become catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires
million acres) of the acreage burned in the East was on
accounts for the vast majority of acres burned. For example,
nonfederal land, whereas 75% (7.1 million acres) of the
only about 1% of wildfires become conflagrations—raging,
acreage burned in the West was on federal land.
destructive fires—but predicting which fires will “blow up”
into conflagrations is challenging and depends on a
multitude of factors, such as weather and geography. In
2020, 2% of wildfires were classified as large or significant
(999); 50 exceeded 40,000 acres in size; and 27 exceeded
100,000 acres. In context, there were fewer large or
significant wildfires in 2019 (806) but more in 2018
(1,167). There have been 1,126 large or significant fires
annually on average from 2016 through 2020.
Issues for Congress
Issues for Congress include the strategies and resources
used for wildfire prevention, mitigation, and management,
and the impact of wildfires on both the quality of life and
the economies of communities surrounding wildfire
activity. Other issues relate to post-wildfire recovery and
site restoration. Congress also considers the total federal
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Wildfire Statistics
cost of wildfire management, including the cost of
CRS Insight IN11716, 2021 Wildfire Season: Brief
suppression operations; these costs vary annually and are
Overview of FEMA Programs and Resources; and
difficult to predict.
CRS Report R46583, Federal Wildfire Management:
For more information, see
Ten-Year Funding Trends and Issues (FY2011-FY2020).
CRS In Focus IF10732, Federal Assistance for Wildfire
Katie Hoover, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Response and Recovery;
Laura A. Hanson, Senior Research Librarian
IF10244
Disclaimer
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