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Updated May 2, 2022
Wildfire Statistics
Wildfires are unplanned fires, including lightning-caused
Notes: FS = Forest Service; DOI = Department of the Interior.
fires, unauthorized human-caused fires, and escaped
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
prescribed fire projects. States are responsible for
responding to wildfires that begin on nonfederal (state,
Figure 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned, 1992-2021
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
From 2012 to 2021, there were an average of 61,289
affected annually, while also variable, generally has
wildfires annually and an average of 7.4 million acres
increased (see Figure 1). Since 2000, an annual average of
70,072 wildfires has burned an annual average of 7.0
impacted annually. In 2021, 58,968 wildfires burned 7.1
million acres.
million acres. The acreage figure is more than double the
average annual acreage burned in the 1990s (3.3 million
acres), although a greater number of fires occurred annually
As of May 2, 2022, over 21,200 wildfires have impacted
in the 1990s (78,600 average).
over 1.1 million acres this year. As of March 28, 2022, the
nationwide Preparedness Level is 2 (see the “Resources”
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
section for more information).
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
Acreage Burned Since 1960
Number of Fires (thousands)
Federal
15.2
12.5
10.9
14.4
14.0
FS
6.6
5.6
5.3
6.7
6.2
DOI
7.3
7.0
5.3
7.6
7.6
Other
1.2
0.1
0.2
<0.1
0.2
Nonfederal
56.4
45.6
39.6
44.6
45.0
Total
71.5
58.1
50.5
59.0
59.0
Acres Burned (millions)
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
Federal
6.3
4.6
3.1
7.1
5.2
Note: Number of fires in thousands.
FS
2.9
2.3
0.6
4.8
4.1
The number of fires and acreage burned are indicators of
DOI
3.3
2.3
2.3
2.3
1.0
the annual level of wildfire activity. However, these
Other
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
<0.1
numbers may be misleading with respect to their impact on
human development or communities since many fires may
Nonfederal
3.7
4.1
1.6
3.1
1.9
occur in large, relatively undeveloped areas. Acreage
Total
10.0
8.8
4.7
10.1
7.1
burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire,
the degree of impact upon forests or soils, or other
Source: National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC)
ecological effects.
Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
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Wildfire Statistics
Most wildfires are human-caused (89% on average from
Resources
2017 to 2021), although the wildfires caused by lightning
Another metric useful for assessing wildfire activity is the
tend to be slightly larger and burn more acreage (52% of
extent that resources—personnel, equipment—are engaged
the average acreage burned from 2017 to 2021 was ignited
in wildfire suppression. A proxy for resource commitments
by lightning).
is the nationwide Preparedness Level (PL) scale, which
ranges from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). The higher PLs
In 2021, 73% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
indicate significant commitment of shared resources. In
was on federal lands (5.2 million acres; Table 1). The other
2021, the PL was at the highest level for 68 days, the
27% of the acreage burned was on state, local, or privately
longest since at least 2000.
owned lands. Fires on these lands (44,960) accounted for
76% of total fires. Of the federal acreage burned nationwide
Wildfire Damages
in 2021, 79% (4.1 million acres) burned on FS land and
Although wildfires may have a beneficial impact on
19% (1.0 million acres) burned on DOI land (Figure 3).
ecological resources, wildfires also may have devastating
impacts, especially for communities affected by wildfire
Figure 3. Percentage Acreage Burned by Ownership
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. In 2021, nearly 6,000 structures were
burned in wildfires, the majority of which occurred in
California (see Table 2).
Table 2. Loss Statistics
2018
2019
2020
2021
Structures Burned
25,790
963
17,904
5,972
% Residences
70%
46%
54%
60%
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
More wildfires occur in the East (including the central
Conflagrations
states), but the wildfires in the West are larger and burn
Of the 1.5 million wildfires that have occurred since 2000,
more acreage (including Alaska, Arizona, California,
237 exceeded 100,000 acres burned and 15 exceeded
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon,
500,000 acres burned. Only a small fraction of wildfires
Utah, Washington, and Wyoming). In 2021, just over
become catastrophic, and a small percentage of fires
23,000 wildfires burned approximately 6.2 million acres in
accounts for the vast majority of acres burned. For example,
the West, compared with the over 35,000 fires that burned
only about 1% of wildfires become conflagrations—raging,
just under 1.0 million acres in the East. In the East (where
destructive fires—but predicting which fires will “blow up”
there is less federal acreage), most of the fires occur on
into conflagrations is challenging and depends on a
nonfederal lands, whereas in the West most of the fires
multitude of factors, such as weather and geography. In
occur on federal lands (see Figure 4). In 2021, 73% (0.7
2021, 2% of wildfires were classified as large or significant
million acres) of the acreage burned in the East was on
(943); 38 exceeded 40,000 acres in size; and 13 exceeded
nonfederal land, whereas 80% (4.9 million acres) of the
100,000 acres. In context, there were slightly more large or
acreage burned in the West was on federal land.
significant wildfires in 2020 (999), but even more in 2017
(1,409). There have been 1,065 large or significant fires
Figure 4. Acreage Burned by Region and Ownership
annually on average from 2017 through 2021.
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
cost of wildfire management, including the cost of
suppression operations; these costs vary annually and are
difficult to predict.
For more information, see
Source: NICC Wildland Fire Summary and Statistics annual reports.
CRS In Focus IF10732, Federal Assistance for Wildfire
Notes: West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, HI, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA,
Response and Recovery, and
and WY. East: Al other states, including Puerto Rico.
CRS Report R40884, Wildfires: CRS Experts.
https://crsreports.congress.gov
Wildfire Statistics
Laura A. Hanson, Senior Research Librarian
IF10244
Katie Hoover, Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
Disclaimer
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