1. InciWeb tables
2. NIFC update

Wildfire season is picking up across much of the West, as fire crews employ early attacks to keep blazes from growing, officials say.

“We are in high fire danger,” said Sarah Wheeler, fire information officer at the Eastern Idaho Interagency Fire Center in Idaho Falls.

Lowland fire-fuel samples show low moisture, and fuels on higher-elevation forestland are drying early as high temperatures and drought persist, she said.

Actions that pose risk but don’t always start wildfires, from field burning to campfires, are likelier to start fires, Wheeler said.

“We’ve been preaching that things look and feel different this year,” she said. “Just be very aware.”

To the west, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Boise District Fire Information Officer Jared Jablonski expects the fire risk to rise soon.

“Eastern Idaho is a little ahead and dried out a little earlier,” he said. “I don’t think we are that far off from increased wildland fire activity. Southwest Idaho is really starting to dry out.”

Jablonski said a dry winter and spring limited growth of new vegetation but left more of the 2020 crop viable.

“So there’s still plenty of fuel to burn,” he said, from grasses and other fine fuels to juniper. Wildfire risk also is up on increases in population and public-land use.

Western heat waves and extended drought make more fuel ignition-ready, National Interagency Fire Center Public Affairs Specialist Carrie Bilbao said.

“With it being so extreme in many areas of the West, and expected lightning coming in, we expect the potential for fires to increase,” she said.

NIFC said the number of fires from Jan. 1 to June 21 totaled 28,926, up 28.9% from a year ago. The center tracks new or active wildfires that are at least 100 acres in timber or 300 on rangeland, or have an incident management team assigned.

Burned acres are pegged at slightly more than 1 million, up 8.7% from last year.

The 10-year average for the period is 24,933 fires burning a total 1.6 million acres.

“Our initial attack resources are doing a good job,” a factor in keeping a fire smaller, Bilbao said.

But firefighters and equipment are expected to be at a premium during peak fire season.

Federal fire officials declared National Fire Preparedness Level 4, on a scale of 1 to 5, June 22. They had declared Level 3 earlier than usual in 2020 and this year.

Bilbao said Level 3 means wildfires are active in about a quarter of the U.S. That level prompts the NIFC-tied National Interagency Coordination Center to apply a national perspective in setting priorities and allocating personnel and equipment. Level 4 signals competition for personnel and resources intensifying.

The InciWeb website tracks wildfires and prescribed fires to date, though it often does not report an acreage for a prescribed burn. June 22 totals were 24 fires and 339,291 reported acres combined in Arizona, 12 fires and 8,388 acres in California, 12 fires and 10,071 acres in Colorado, 4 fires and 1 acre reported in Idaho, 4 fires and 39,818 acres in Montana, 4 fires and 1,894 acres in Nevada, 9 fires and 111,723 acres in New Mexico, six fires and 16,546 acres in Oregon, 4 fires and 43,814 acres in Utah, none in Washington and 1 fire of 1,038 acres in Wyoming.

In Idaho, the state Department of Lands reported on June 14 that its firefighters already responded to 99 wildfires that burned a combined 433 acres of state and private land — well above average. Ninety were held to 10 acres or smaller. Many consumed less than an acre.

The department provides fire prevention and suppression on more than 6 million acres of state and private land.

Fire Bureau Chief Josh Harvey said hard-hitting initial attack is crucial in dry conditions.

“Unfortunately, 95% of these fires were human-caused and could have been prevented,” he said.

State	No. of Fires	Total Acres
Arizona	24	313,906
New Mexico	9	111.723
Montana	4	39,818
Alaska	3	13,047*
California	12	8,388
Colorado	12	10,071
Oregon	6	16,546
Nevada	4	1,894
Idaho	99	433**
Washington	0	0
Source: InciWeb
*NIFC** Idaho Dept. of Lands