Fire Information - Wildland Fire Statistics
Wildland Fire Season 2006

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2006 transpired into a very busy wildland fire season. Fire suppression resources were heavily used and international support was requested. All Geographic Areas experienced above normal fire seasons except Alaska and the Eastern Geographic Area.

Fire Activity

A total of 96,385 fires and 9,873,429 acres burned were reported. This season was 125 percent above the 10-year average. The Southern Geographic Area reported 48,632 fires and 2,632,358 acres burned. This represented 50 percent of the national total of fires during 2006. Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas experienced a heavy and persistent fire season starting in early 2006 and continued through the spring.

Fire crews were able to increase prescribed fire projects in 2006. 2,720,545 acres were treated which is 410,000 acres above last year’s total. This is the second highest total since prescribed fires were reported in 1998. The Southern Geographic Area had the most prescribed fire projects and acres treated in 2006.

Firefighting resources were in high demand during 2006. Both international resources and the Department of Defense fulfilled a critical need for airtankers, crews, and personnel. Canada provided ten 20-person crews, 11 smokejumpers, and 59 overhead to assist fire suppression operations in the states. Australia and New Zealand assigned 115 fire specialists and management personnel to assist with fires in the western states in August and September. The U.S. was able to return the favor to Canada and Australia later in the season. Firefighters and miscellaneous overhead, including three Type 1 crews and two Type 2 initial attack crews, assisted the Province of British Columbia with its fire activity. One hundred eight firefighters and fire managers were also dispatched to Australia to lend a hand at the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007.

The Air National Guard and U.S. Army were also mobilized during the 2006 fire season. Two North Carolina Air National Guard Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems (MAFFS) were deployed mid-March to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The same MAFFS were later redeployed to Mesa, Arizona, at the end of June through the beginning of July. Two Wyoming and Colorado Air National Guard MAFFS were positioned in Klamath Falls, Oregon, from mid-July through mid-September. Three California Air National Guard MAFFS were deployed to Boise, Idaho, from the beginning of August through mid-September. A U.S. Army task force, Task Force Blaze, was organized to support the suppression efforts on the Tripod Complex in Washington from mid-August through the beginning of September.

Hurricane Relief Support

The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was slightly below normal. A normal hurricane season consists of 11 named storms, with six of these storms transforming to hurricanes. The 2006 season included nine named storms and five hurricanes which became major storms (Category 3 or higher). Most of these storms did not impact the U.S. due to a dominant weather pattern which curved most tropical storm activity to the north in the western Atlantic. Two Type 2 Incident Management Teams were positioned on standby in Atlanta, Georgia, for tropical storm Ernesto at the end of August. These teams were released and not used this season. No other hurricane relief support was activated for 2006.