National Fire News

National Preparedness Level 1

as of January 29 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 is currently updated on Fridays only.
Please check the IMSR for more information.

January 31, 2025

Wildland firefighters contained the Hughes and Border 2 fires in Southern California. The Palisades fire is now 98% contained. Large fire activity picked up in the Southern Area where four new large wildfires were reported, two in North Carolina one in Oklahoma, and one in Virginia. 

So far in 2025, 2,128 wildfires have burned 64,038 acres. This is the most acres burned in January in the past 10 years. 

Weather, topography, and fuels (a term which mostly refers to vegetation, but includes anything that can burn) are the three environmental factors that influence wildfires the most. Of these three factors, fuels are the only one that people can influence through management. When fuels are reduced or broken up on forests and rangelands, wildfires tend to burn with less intensity and lower spread potential. By managing the fuels around your home, you create defensible space. Community fuels reduction projects protect homes, watersheds, and local economies. Learn more about how to make your home and community Firewise

The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook is available for the period of January through April 2025.

 

Weather

An active weather pattern is forecast across the northwestern US the next week, with a long-lived atmospheric river affecting Oregon through central California today through early next week. Heavy rain will fall in western Oregon to central California, with heavy snow in the mountains above 5,000 to 7,000 feet. Moderate to heavy precipitation will also spread across the northern half of the Intermountain West, with heavy snow in the mountains. The storm will shift south into southern California into the southern Great Basin with moderate precipitation late next week, while precipitation becomes scattered and lighter in the northern half of the West. A storm will move from the Appalachians today to off the East Coast tomorrow with widespread precipitation, heaviest in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and falling as snow in northern New England. A drier pattern is forecast across the eastern US early next week, with another round of precipitation likely late next week from the Mississippi River to the East Coast, with snow likely to be limited to the Upper Great Lakes. Near to below normal temperatures are likely to continue for much of central and eastern Alaska into next week under an upper- level ridge, while periods of precipitation and near to above normal temperatures affect the western coast. A Kona low will push east of Hawai’i today with showers continuing for the Big Island, followed by dry conditions with breezy trade winds this weekend into early next week. 

Daily statistics
Number of new large fires or emergency response 
* New fires are identified with an asterisk
4 States currently reporting large fires:
Total number of large fires under full suppression strategies 4
Acres from all active fires 68,558
Fires contained 3
Year-to-date statistics
2025 (1/1/25-1/31/25) Fires: 2,128 Acres: 64,038
2024 (1/1/24-1/31/24) Fires: 963 Acres: 4,769
2023 (1/1/23-1/31/23) Fires: 1,576 Acres: 11,966
2022 (1/1/22-1/31/22) Fires: 1,752 Acres: 32,798
2021 (1/1/21-1/31/21) Fires: 1,688 Acres: 32,395
2020 (1/1/20-1/31/20) Fires: 1,153 Acres: 16,908
2019 (1/1/19-1/31/19) Fires: 680 Acres: 6,894
2018 (1/1/18-1/31/18) Fires: 2,793 Acres: 58,478
2017 (1/1/17-1/31/17) Fires: 1,958 Acres: 41,369
2016 (1/1/16-1/31/16) Fires: 501 Acres: 13,718
2015 (1/1/15-1/31/15) Fires: 1,728 Acres: 24,524
10-year average Year-to-Date
2015-2024 Fires: 1,369 Acres: 21,869
Current Wildfires
Fires: 1
Acres: 23,448
New: 0
Contained: 2
Fire Unit Agency Size % Ctn Location Information
Palisades Los Angeles Fire Department BLM 23,448 98 Four miles west of Brentwood, CA  
Border 2

San Diego Unit, Cal Fire

  6,625 100 Six miles east of Otay Mesa, CA  
Hughes Angeles National Forest USFS 10,425 100 Six miles northeast of Castaic, CA (626) 662-0120
Fires: 1
Acres: 120
New: 2
Contained: 1
Fire Unit Agency Size % Ctn Location Information
* North Fork National Forests in North Carolina USFS 120 20 Two miles east of Woodlawn, NC  
* Crooked Creek North Carolina Forest Service ST 220 100    
Fires: 1
Acres: 523
New: 1
Contained: 0
Fire Unit Agency Size % Ctn Location Information
* Big Springs Cherokee Nation Tribe BIA 523 25 Three miles east of Kenwood, OK  
Fires: 1
Acres: 555
New: 1
Contained: 0
Fire Unit Agency Size % Ctn Location Information
* Cahas Mountain Virginia Department of Forestry ST 555 90 Seven miles north of Callaway, VA