as of October 13, 2023 at 7:30 a.m. MDT (on a scale from 1 to 5)
Current hours for the National Fire Information Center are
(MST) 8:00 am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday
208-387-5050
This report will be updated on Fridays.
Please check the IMSR for more information.
May 17, 2024
Eight new large wildfires were reported in the past week. Currently, five large uncontained wildfires are burning in Arizona with one each in Minnesota and Oregon. Wildland firefighters and support personnel contained six large wildfires this past week.
Year to date, there have been 14,363 wildfires that have burned 1,866,415 acres nationally. Most of the acres burned so far this year have been in the Southern Area with over 1.6 million acres burned in Texas.
For a look ahead, check out the National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook for seven-day and monthly outlooks generated by predictive services within the National Interagency Coordination Center. Looking for more information on your specific region? Try the predictive services information for your own geographic area.
May is National Wildfire Awareness Month dedicated to fire prevention and preparedness. Before vegetation dries out in the summer heat, take some time to prepare your family, your home, and your community for wildfire threats. Ready.gov has some great resources to prepare for disasters and emergencies including wildfires. Also, remember to do your part in fire prevention. In 2023, nearly 90% of wildfires nationally were human caused. Reduce your risks and help our firefighters by becoming Firewise and help Smokey Bear celebrate his 80th birthday this year by preventing wildfires in #FireYear2024!
Upper troughing will develop over the northern half of the West today and continue through much of the next week, with scattered showers, breezy winds, and below normal temperatures. Dry, northerly winds are likely to develop in the Sacramento Valley Saturday and Monday, while dry and breezy westerly winds will develop across the southern Great Basin, Southwest, and West Slope Sunday into Monday.
Elevated to critical conditions are most likely from eastern Arizona through New Mexico into west Texas but may be mitigated by recent precipitation. Another period of increased winds is likely for the same area mid to late next week.
A cold front will move from east Texas through the Southeast this weekend with widespread showers and thunderstorms, with heavy rain and flooding likely for Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia today into tomorrow. Widespread wetting rain will also fall from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic, but much of the Northeast will remain dry.
A storm will develop over the central and northern Plains and move into the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley early next week with widespread wetting precipitation. However, how much of this precipitation makes it into the Northeast remains uncertain.
Seasonable temperatures with isolated wet thunderstorms are forecast across the Alaska Interior this weekend. Another day of heavy rain is forecast for the western Hawai’ian Islands today, with drier weather returning late this weekend into early next week.
Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk |
7 | States currently reporting large fires: |
Number of active large fires Total does not include individual fires within complexes. |
7 | |
Acres from active fires | 19,795 | |
Fires contained | 6 |
2024 (1/1/24-5/17/24) | Fires: 14,363 | Acres: 1,866,415 |
2023 (1/1/23-5/17/23) | Fires: 15,858 | Acres: 475,609 |
2022 (1/1/22-5/17/22) | Fires: 11,663 | Acres: 1,432,012 |
2021 (1/1/21-5/17/21) | Fires: 21,780 | Acres: 563,854 |
2020 (1/1/20-5/17/20) | Fires: 15,765 | Acres: 339,855 |
2019 (1/1/19-5/17/19) | Fires: 12,629 | Acres: 230,364 |
2018 (1/1/18-5/17/18) | Fires: 21,997 | Acres: 1,600,169 |
2017 (1/1/17-5/17/17) | Fires: 22,518 | Acres: 2,108,768 |
2016 (1/1/16-5/17/16) | Fires: 18,188 | Acres: 1,542,953 |
2015 (1/1/15-5/17/15) | Fires: 19,741 | Acres: 375,155 |
2014 (1/1/14-5/17/14) | Fires: 22,527 | Acres: 462,319 |
2014-2023 | Fires: 19,513 | Acres: 871,588 |
Arizona
Fire | Unit | Agency | Size | % Ctn | Location | Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Horse Edit |
Tonto National Forest Edit |
USFS | 512 | 75 | Twenty-eight miles southwest of Payson, AZ | |
* Peak Edit |
Tonto National Forest Edit |
USFS | 360 | 70 | Twenty-seven miles northeast of Mesa, AZ | |
* Reay Edit |
Tonto National Forest Edit |
USFS | 700 | 80 | Two miles southeast of Pima, AZ | |
* Toyo Edit |
San Carlos Agency Edit |
BIA | 1,778 | 90 | ||
Wolf Edit |
Coconino National Forest Edit |
USFS | 9,896 | 85 | Twenty-three miles north of Payson, AZ | |
Flying Bucket Edit |
Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management - Central District Edit |
ST | 2,795 | 100 | Fourteen miles southwest of Maricopa, AZ |