Higher-than-normal and lower-than-normal fire risks in approximately equal areas of contiguous US
Maps show pattern over time in which the northwestern US has above-normal fire risk and the southeastern US has below-normal fire risk.
Potential for Significant Wildfires Is Above Normal for a Growing Share of the U.S. More than half of U.S. wildland firefighting resources already committed in June
Widespread drought is fueling an early ramp-up of wildfire season, with more than half of the U.S. wildland firefighting resources already committed and a growing portion of the Western U.S.—one of the largest swaths in recent years—at above-normal risk for significant wildfires in July.
More than 30,000 fires have already burned nearly 1.5 million acres this year, mostly across the Southwest and into Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and portions of California. Drought now encompasses more than 90% of the West.
This level of wildfire activity is unusual for June and early July. Many notable fires of the past few years have occurred later in the season, including the series of fires that turned the sky a deep orange across the Northwest last September. The Camp Fire devastated Paradise, Calif., and killed at least 85 in November 2018.