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August 8, 2023 - The wildland fire community had a tragic loss on August 6.when three Cal Fire employees perished in a midair collision while fighting the Broadway Fire in Riverside County. We join 
with Cal Fire to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Assistant Chief Josh Bischof, Fire Captain Tim Rodriguez, and Exclusive Use Helicopter Pilot Tony Sousa.
Nationally, 83 large fires burned 519,654 acres in 12 states. Eight new large fires were reported, two in Oregon and New Mexico and one in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado and Washington. To date, 32,186 wildfires have burned 1,364,123 acres, which is below the 10-year average of 35,808 wildfires and 4,066,524 acres burned.
More than 10,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the country. This includes 16 incident management teams, 204 crews, nearly 460 engines and 78 helicopters. One MAFFS C-130 airtanker and support personnel from the 153rd Airlift Wing (Wyoming Air National Guard) and one MAFFS unit from the 302nd Airlift Wing (Colorado Air Force Reserve) have been deployed to Klamath Falls, OR to support wildland fire operations nationally.
To date, nearly 27,900 wildfires were caused by people. About 2,935 were lightning-caused. The states with the most human-caused wildfires include California, North Carolina, Texas, Florida and Pennsylvania. In the heat of the summer is important for all of us to do our part to help our wildland firefighters. Recreate responsibly and check local restrictions before you head out to your favorite place on our public lands.
The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook and other valuable resources are available on the National Interagency Coordination Center website. Listen to the latest wildland fire potential outlook and the monthly seasonal outlook podcast for August through November.
An upper-level trough will move east-southeast from the northern Great Basin through the central Rockies, with hot, dry, and windy conditions expected again from the deserts of southern California through the greater Four Corners region. Hot, dry, and breezy conditions will continue across much of Texas into the Lower Mississippi Valley as well. Strong easterly winds of 30-45 mph, gusting 65+ mph will continue for Hawaii through tomorrow night, with fire weather concerns on leeside locations of the islands. Post-frontal dry and windy conditions are expected along and east of the Appalachians, but antecedent rainfall will help mitigate fire weather conditions. Scattered mixed wet and dry thunderstorms are expected across much of the Southwest onto the southern High Plains, and isolated showers and thunderstorms are likely in portions of southern California in the evening and overnight as moisture from Tropical Storm Eugene streams northward. Isolated to scattered showers and mixed wet and dry thunderstorms are likely from north and eastern Idaho and western Montana through Wyoming onto the central Plains. Showers are likely to move into western Washington and northwest Oregon overnight as another upper-level trough approaches, but offshore winds are likely in southwest Oregon ahead of this during the day. Scattered to widespread thunderstorms are likely from the northern and central Plains through much of the Southeast, with showers and thunderstorms in the Northeast.
| Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk |
8 | States currently reporting large fires: |
| Number of active large fires Total does not include individual fires within complexes. |
83 | |
| Acres from active fires | 519,654 | |
| Fires contained | 4 |
Year-to-date statistics
| 2023 (1/1/23-8/08/23) | Fires: 32,188 | Acres: 1,364,123 |
| 2022 (1/1/22-8/08/22) | Fires: 0 | Acres: 5,864,512 |
| 2021 (1/1/21-8/08/21) | Fires: 39,267 | Acres: 3,540,703 |
| 2020 (1/1/20-8/08/20) | Fires: 33,683 | Acres: 2,288,770 |
| 2019 (1/1/19-8/08/19) | Fires: 28,331 | Acres: 3,583,751 |
| 2018 (1/1/18-8/08/18) | Fires: 39,628 | Acres: 5,430,771 |
| 2017 (1/1/17-8/08/17) | Fires: 40,629 | Acres: 6,041,641 |
| 2016 (1/1/16-8/08/16) | Fires: 36,103 | Acres: 3,569,814 |
| 2015 (1/1/15-8/08/15) | Fires: 37,693 | Acres: 6,161,928 |
| 2014 (1/1/14-8/08/14) | Fires: 35,085 | Acres: 2,401,651 |
| 2013 (1/1/13-8/08/13) | Fires: 29,205 | Acres: 2,558,081 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
| 2013-2022 | Fires: 35,808 | Acres: 4,066,524 |
Source: NIFC
