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August 31, 2022 - Forty-one large fires and complexes have burned 289,515 acres across seven states. One new large fire was reported in Oregon. More than 10,100 wildland firefighters and support 
personnel are assigned to incidents. One national incident management organization team, three Type 1 incident management teams (IMTs) and nine Type 2 IMTs are working in the Northwest, Northern California and Great Basin areas.
After wildland firefighters contain wildfires, another group of quiet heroes moves into the area to start the healing of the land. Burned area emergency response teams assess the area to see if the land needs to be stabilized to prevent loss of topsoil through erosion and prevent the movement of dirt into rivers and streams. Land management specialists and volunteers jump start the renewal of plant life through seeding and planting annuals, trees and native species that help retain soil and fight invasive weeds. It is a long-term process that comes alive as the fires die down.
The significant wildland fire potential forecasts represent the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services units and the National Predictive Services unit. The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook is updated monthly and posted on the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) predictive services page.
Isolated thunderstorms are likely in portions of the Washington Cascades, but low minimum relative humidity of 6-20% will continue across much of the West, with the lowest values in northern California into central Oregon and across portions of the Great Basin into the Northern Rockies. Well above normal temperatures are expected again, with most areas in the 90s to low 100s across the West. Hot, Dry, Windy Index values are likely to exceed the 95th percentile across portions of Inland Northwest and possibly in coastal southern California and western Idaho. Additionally, conditions may become favorable over active large fires in eastern Oregon through central Idaho into southwest Montana for pyrocumulonimbus development. Fire activity is expected to increase across these areas, especially on existing large fires. Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are likely in the Colorado Rockies and possibly over higher terrain in southeast Arizona into New Mexico. Widespread to numerous thunderstorms are expected across southwest Texas into southeast New Mexico, with scattered thunderstorms likely along the Gulf and southeast Atlantic Coasts.
| Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk |
1 | States currently reporting large fires: |
| Number of active large fires Total does not include individual fires within complexes. |
41 | |
| Acres from active fires | 289,515 | |
| Fires contained | 0 |
Year-to-date statistics
| 2022 (1/1/22-8/31/22) | Fires: 48,211 | Acres: 6,137,232 |
| 2021 (1/1/21-8/31/21) | Fires: 42,889 | Acres: 4,887,466 |
| 2020 (1/1/20-8/31/20) | Fires: 39,991 | Acres: 4,018,246 |
| 2019 (1/1/19-8/31/19) | Fires: 33,559 | Acres: 4,068,171 |
| 2018 (1/1/18-8/31/18) | Fires: 43,624 | Acres: 6,838,826 |
| 2017 (1/1/17-8/31/17) | Fires: 46,493 | Acres: 7,139,461 |
| 2016 (1/1/16-8/31/16) | Fires: 40,359 | Acres: 4,594,895 |
| 2015 (1/1/15-8/31/15) | Fires: 43,819 | Acres: 8,202,557 |
| 2014 (1/1/14-8/31/14) | Fires: 38,528 | Acres: 2,746,256 |
| 2013 (1/1/13-8/31/13) | Fires: 34,388 | Acres: 3,798,981 |
| 2012 (1/1/12-8/31/12) | Fires: 44,182 | Acres: 7,621,986 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
| 2012-2021 | Fires: 40,627 | Acres: 5,285,216 |
Source: NIFC
