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Updated November 16, 2018
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 stayed relatively
constant over the last 30 years and that the number of acres
Over the past 10 years, 6.6 million acres burned annually on
burned annually, while also variable, generally has
average. In 2017, 71,500 wildfires burned 10.0 million
increased (see Figure 1). Every year since 2000, an average
acres nationwide, the second-largest figure on record in
of 73,200 wildfires burned an average of 6.9 million acres.
terms of acreage burned. The 2015 fire season was the
This figure is nearly double the average annual acreage
largest, with 10.1 million acres burned (see Figure 2); more
burned in the 1990s (3.3 million acres), although a greater
than half of these acres were in Alaska (5.1 million acres).
number of fires occurred annually (78,600 on average).
As of November 15, 2018, 51,898 wildfires have burned
Table 1. Annual Wildfires and Acres Burned
8.51 million acres this year.
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Figure 2. Top Five Years with Largest Wildfire
Acreage Burned Since 1960
Number of Fires (thousands)
Federal
14.2
13.0
13.8
12.6
15.2
FS
7.1
6.8
7.1
5.7
6.6
DOI
6.7
6.1
6.6
6.8
7.3
Nonfederal
33.4
50.6
54.4
55.2
56.4
Total
47.6
63.6
68.2
67.7
71.5
Acres Burned (millions)
Federal
3.08
2.15
7.41
3.00
6.3
Source: NIFC.
FS
1.37
0.87
1.92
1.25
2.9
DOI
1.59
1.24
5.47
1.70
3.3
Although the number of fires and acreage burned are
Nonfederal
1.23
1.4
2.72
2.51
3.7
indicators of the annual level of wildfire activity, they also
may be misleading, since many fires may occur in areas
Total
4.32
3.60
10.13
5.51
10.0
that are large and relatively undeveloped, with very little
Source: National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).
impact to human development or communities. Acreage
Notes: Federal includes fires that began on land managed by the
burned also does not indicate the severity of the wildfire or
Forest Service (FS), Department of the Interior (DOI), and other
the degree of impact to the forest, soils, or any other
federal agencies (not listed). Nonfederal includes all other lands.
ecological effects.
Column totals may not add due to rounding.
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Wildfire Statistics
In 2017, 63% of the nationwide acreage burned by wildfires
Wildfire Damages
was on federal lands (6.3 million acres; see Table 1). The
Although wildfires may have a beneficial impact on
other 37% of the acreage burned occurred on state, local, or
ecological resources, wildfires also may have a devastating
privately owned lands but also accounted for 79% of the
impact, especially for those communities affected by
fires (56,374). Of the federal acreage burned nationwide in
wildfire activity. Therefore, statistics showing the level of
2017, 53% (3.3 million acres) burned on DOI land and 46%
destruction a wildfire causes can be useful, such as acres
(2.9 million acres) burned on FS land (see Figure 3). Most
burned, lives lost (firefighters and civilians), and structures
wildfires are human-caused (87% on average from 2013 to
destroyed, as well as suppression costs. Firefighter
2017), although the wildfires caused by lightning tend to be
personnel data for the FS and DOI, firefighter fatalities, and
larger and burn more acreage (58% on average from 2013
structures burned are provided in Table 2.
to 2017).
Table 2. FS and DOI Personnel and Loss Statistics
Figure 3. Percentage of Acreage Burned
by Landowner
2014
2015
2016
2017
Personnel
FS Firefighters
10,000
10,000
10,000
10,000
DOI Firefighters
3,450
3,997
4,129
4,514
Losses
Firefighter Fatalities
10
13
12
14
Structures Burned
1,953
4,636
4,312
12,306
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 more than 1.6 million wildfires that have occurred
states), but more acreage burns in the West (including
since 1997, approximately 170 exceeded 100,000 acres, and
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana,
12 exceeded 500,000 acres. Only a small fraction of
New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and
wildfires become catastrophic, and a small percentage of
Wyoming). In 2017, more than 47,500 fires burned nearly
fires accounts for the vast majority of acres burned. For
2.6 million acres in the East, compared with nearly 24,000
example, only about 1% of wildfires become
wildfires that burned more than 7.4 million acres in the
conflagrations—raging, destructive fires—but predicting
West (see Table 1). In the East (where there is less federal
which fires will “blow up” into conflagrations is
acreage), most of the fires occur on nonfederal lands,
challenging and depends on a multitude of factors, such as
whereas in the West most of the fires occur on federal lands
weather and geography. In 2017, 2.0% of wildfires were
(see Figure 4). In 2017, 84% (2.2 million acres) of the
classified as large or significant (1,409) and 51 wildfires
acreage burned in the East was on nonfederal land, whereas
exceeded 40,000 acres in size, 12 of which also exceeded
79% (5.9 million acres) of the acreage burned in the West
100,000 acres. There were fewer large or significant
was on federal land.
wildfires in 2016: 1,251 (1.8% of the total fires that year),
Figure 4. Acreage Burned by Region and Landowner
19 of which exceeded 40,000 acres in size and 6 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
IF10244
Source: NIFC.
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Wildfire Statistics
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