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September 15, 2023 - Sixty-seven large wildfires have burned 468,938 acres in 12 states. New large fires were reported in California and Washington. More than10,200 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to incidents across the nation. This includes 181 crews, 484 engines, 95 helicopters, and 15 incident management teams.
On America’s rangelands forests and parks, one less spark really can mean one less wildfire. The wildland firefighters need your help to prevent wildfires. The national average of human-caused wildfires comprises 89% of all wildfire occurrences this year. Most of these fires can be prevented. Please recreate responsible and be fire safe while enjoying your public lands.
The predictive services staff at the National Interagency Coordination Center released the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for September through December. The current wildland fire potential outlook and the monthly seasonal outlook podcast is also available.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to work with state and local agencies in Hawai‘i. Some national parks in Hawai‘i have been affected by wildfires. For the latest on closure status, recovery, and travel please visit: Wildfires affecting Hawaii - Hawai'i (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov).
An upper-level ridge will shift eastward over the West Coast and into the Intermountain West, with a thermal trough slowly shifting eastward from near the coast into the Willamette Valley and on western slopes of the Cascades. Temperatures will be 5-15°F above normal in northern California, the Northwest, Idaho, and Montana, with minimum relative humidity mostly 10-35%. Weak east-northeast offshore flow may develop again overnight in northwest California and southwest Oregon, and some areas of poor to moderate relative humidity recovery may persist overnight as well. Scattered to widespread thunderstorms and showers will develop from the Four Corners through much of the southern and central Plains, Texas, Gulf Coast, Deep South, Florida, and into the Upper Midwest and western Great Lakes. A cold front will be a focus of rainfall from the Great Lakes into the southern Rockies and a stalled surface front will be another focus of rainfall from central Texas through the Gulf Coast. Another cold front will push south through the northern Plains into the western Great Lakes. Rain and gusty winds of 25-50 mph are likely to begin overnight along coastal New England ahead of Hurricane Lee. Dry and breezy conditions are likely in eastern Virginia and North Carolina due to Lee passing to the east and remaining in a post-frontal airmass.
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. |
59 | |
Acres from active fires | 324,907 | |
Fires contained | 2 |
Year-to-date statistics
2023 (1/1/23-9/15/23) | Fires: 42,502 | Acres: 2,181,540 |
2022 (1/1/22-9/15/22) | Fires: 0 | Acres: 6,784,624 |
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 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
2013-2022 | Fires: 43,784 | Acres: 5,950,271 |
Source: NIFC