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September 15, 2022 - More than 20,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the western states. Ninety-one large fires and complexes have burned 854,587 acres. One new large fire was reported in Oregon. Wildland firefighters contained six large fires yesterday.
To date, 50,691 wildfires have burned 6,717,555 acres in the United States. This continues to be above the 10-year averages of 43,087 wildfires and 6,019,333 acres burned. If you plan to enjoy your public lands this weekend it is critical for you to be fire safe. Have spark arresters on equipment and vehicles like chain saws, motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. Exhaust systems on any vehicle can easily ignite vegetation, so drive and park in designated areas keeping off and away from dry grass and brush. Taking these simple steps can help prevent wildfires.
Predictive Services specialists at the National Interagency Coordination Center closely analyze weather, vegetation, and other factors that affect fire activity. Visit their website for more information about current weather conditions and listen to the weekly fuels and fire danger podcast.
Upper troughing is likely along the West Coast while upper ridging and above normal temperatures continue across the Plains. Elevated conditions are likely across much of the Plains from Oklahoma to South Dakota due to south winds 15-25 mph with gusts 25-35 mph amid relative humidity of 12-25%. Oklahoma will be of greatest concern as little rainfall has fallen the past two weeks, but conditions across portions of the central Plains will be mitigated by rain last weekend. Locally elevated conditions are likely along the eastern slopes of the northern Sierra into the southern Cascades due to continued enhanced westerly flow as well. Scattered wet thunderstorms will continue across the central and eastern Great Basin into the Rockies, with the heaviest rain and potential flash flooding from eastern Nevada through Utah to the West Slope. A few wet thunderstorms are possible from northeast Washington across the Idaho Panhandle and into northwest Montana as well. Showers and thunderstorms are likely to develop across northern Plains into Minnesota along and ahead of a cold front while scattered wet thunderstorms continue across the Florida Peninsula.
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. |
91 | |
Acres from active fires | 854,587 | |
Fires contained | 3 |
Year-to-date statistics
2022 (1/1/22-9/15/22) | Fires: 50,691 | Acres: 6,717,555 |
2021 (1/1/21-9/15/21) | Fires: 44,740 | Acres: 5,609,865 |
2020 (1/1/20-9/15/20) | Fires: 42,363 | Acres: 6,896,438 |
2019 (1/1/19-9/15/19) | Fires: 36,848 | Acres: 4,292,624 |
2018 (1/1/18-9/15/18) | Fires: 47,797 | Acres: 7,224,752 |
2017 (1/1/17-9/15/17) | Fires: 49,525 | Acres: 8,412,500 |
2016 (1/1/16-9/15/16) | Fires: 43,121 | Acres: 4,778,167 |
2015 (1/1/15-9/15/15) | Fires: 46,347 | Acres: 8,834,487 |
2014 (1/1/14-9/15/14) | Fires: 39,615 | Acres: 2,930,087 |
2013 (1/1/13-9/15/13) | Fires: 37,702 | Acres: 3,998,903 |
2012 (1/1/12-9/15/12) | Fires: 46,502 | Acres: 8,387,575 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
2012-2021 | Fires: 43,087 | Acres: 6,019,333 |
Source: NIFC