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July 31, 2024 - Currently, 95 large active wildfires are being managed with full suppression strategies nationwide. Current fires nationwide have burned 2,180,105 acres. So far in 
2024, 28,154 wildfires have burned 4,449,282 acres. People have caused more than 25,000 wildfires that have burned nearly 3 million acres. Lightning ignited about 2,740 wildfires and burned 1.1 million acres.
Nearly 28,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfires, including 27 complex and 5 Type 1 incident management teams, 613 crews, 1,781 engines, 164 helicopters, and four Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS.
Precipitation and higher humidity recovery has moderated fire activity in the Northwest in recent days, allowing firefighters to make meaningful progress on containment of numerous incidents. However, dryer conditions are predicted soon, and more record-breaking heat is expected across the country. Extreme fire behavior continues in other geographic areas.
Evacuation orders are in effect on 28 wildfires. If you live in an area that has been evacuated, please follow the instructions from local authorities. They will provide the latest recommendations based on the threat to your community and appropriate safety measures.
There are fuels and fire behavior advisories in place for Southwest Oregon, the region east of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, Nevada, Southern Idaho, Utah, and California. Residents, travelers, or workers on their way to any of these states should be advised and familiarize themselves with the elevated risks.
The national predictive services staff at the National Interagency Coordination Center released the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for July through October. For additional information about the current outlook visit the Outlook page on the NICC site.
As this summer has seen numerous fires across the country consume thousands of acres, it is important to remember that early suppression of new fire starts remains a vital objective. The vast majority of fires are contained within 24 hours of their discovery, also known as the initial attack stage; these fires do not get large enough to be listed on the incident management summary report. Prepositioning firefighters and firefighting resources strategically for initial attack, especially in areas where predictive services have identified a potential for large fire growth, is a critical consideration during the busiest part of the fire year, and must be balanced with the tremendous need for resources to fight large fires.
Calmer conditions associated with surface high pressure building into Wyoming will bring a brief reprieve from critical fire weather conditions, though locally breezy weather will continue along parts of the West Slope, Front Range and eastern Great Basin. High pressure centered over western Wyoming will promote much lighter winds in the northern Rockies, with gusts generally remaining below 20 mph. Minimum relative humidity in the northern half of the western interior will reach as low as 15-25% and near 35% in the higher terrain. Most of the northern Intermountain West will see temperatures a few degrees below average, but warmer air will return to northern California and southwest Oregon as a ridge aloft begins to build over the area. Extremely dry air with minimum relative humidity from 5-15% will continue over southern California and the southern Great Basin, in addition to Colorado, with high temperatures as much as 5-15 degrees above normal. Winds will mostly be lighter than in previous days, but some gusts of 20-30 mph are possible off the Front Range. Scattered monsoonal thunderstorms will affect southern Arizona and New Mexico into the Texas mountains. Record highs above 100 degrees will increase in coverage over the central and southern Great Plains, while relative humidity as low as 15-25% and southerly winds gusting from 25-35 mph will likely lead to an uptick in wildfire risk. Isolated gusty thunderstorms could pop up over the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles late. Showers and thunderstorms will be scattered across the northern Plains and Great Lakes into the Southeast, while wet weather will continue in parts of New England. Another outbreak of severe thunderstorms is forecast over western Iowa. Look for continued cool and showery weather in Alaska, with dry and locally breezy conditions over Hawai’i.
| Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk |
9 | States currently reporting large fires: |
| Total number of large fires under full suppression strategies |
95 | |
| Acres from all active fires | 2,180,105 | |
| Fires contained | 3 |
Year-to-date statistics
| 2024 (1/1/24-7/31/24) | Fires: 28,154 | Acres: 4,449,282 |
| 2023 (1/1/23-7/31/23) | Fires: 30,466 | Acres: 1,174,562 |
| 2022 (1/1/22-7/31/22) | Fires: 37,774 | Acres: 5,712,925 |
| 2021 (1/1/21-7/31/21) | Fires: 37,650 | Acres: 2,982,960 |
| 2020 (1/1/20-7/31/20) | Fires: 31,823 | Acres: 2,107,535 |
| 2019 (1/1/19-7/31/19) | Fires: 26,501 | Acres: 3,323,173 |
| 2018 (1/1/18-7/31/18) | Fires: 37,718 | Acres: 4,810,195 |
| 2017 (1/1/17-7/31/17) | Fires: 39,000 | Acres: 5,490,878 |
| 2016 (1/1/16-7/31/16) | Fires: 33,852 | Acres: 3,478,169 |
| 2015 (1/1/15-7/31/15) | Fires: 35,931 | Acres: 5,650,307 |
| 2014 (1/1/14-7/31/14) | Fires: 33,437 | Acres: 1,642,994 |
10-year average Year-to-Date
| 2014-2023 | Fires: 34,356 | Acres: 3,589,278 |
Source: NIFC
