Firefighters are working to suppress and contain 78 large fires across the country, including 9 new large incidents since yesterday. 19,378 firefighters and support personnel are engaged in nationwide fire activity, including 420 crews, 1,142 engines, and 144 helicopters.
Significant wildland fire activity continues to expand across multiple geographic areas, with all categories of national resources experiencing heavy commitment. Geographic areas with the highest levels of activity are implementing emergency measures to sustain incident operations, while geographic areas with lower levels of activity are approaching drawdown thresholds across all resource types. The potential for new significant wildland fires remains high across multiple geographic areas and is expected to persist for the foreseeable future. Based on current and anticipated national fire activity, resource commitment, and projected demand, the national preparedness level increased to Preparedness Level 5 (PL 5) effective 0730 MST on July 18.
So far this year, 40,560 fires have burned more than 3.8 million acres across the United States. The Northwest Geographic Area continues to detect new starts that are burning aggressively, including the newly-reported Hay Creek Complex, which is currently 92,211 acres. Fire behavior has moderated in Minnesota following some precipitation over the fires, but is expected to increase again as they dry out.
Two MAFFS C-130 airtankers and support personnel from the 302nd Airlift Wing (CO Air National Guard) have been deployed to Klamath Falls, OR. One MAFFS C-130 airtanker and support personnel from the 153rd Airlift Wing (WY Air National Guard) has been deployed to San Bernardino, CA. One MAFFS C-130 airtanker and support personnel from the 146th Airlift Wing (CA Air National Guard) has been deployed to Santa Maria, CA to support wildland fire operations nationally.
Our greatest shared resource is the air that we breathe. Smoke can even affect communities hundreds of miles away from active wildfires. Fire.airnow.gov is an excellent resource for monitoring air quality in your area and understanding where smoke impacts may be coming from. Limit your exposure to poor air quality by monitoring which times of day are worst and avoiding strenuous activity and limiting outdoor time during those windows.
Weather
Extreme heat will spread across the Northern Plains today, where high temperatures will reach 10–20 °F above normal and relative humidity will fall as low as 15–20%. Strong west winds are also forecast across the Northern Plains and much of the Northern Rockies Geographic Area as an upper-level trough moves through southern Saskatchewan. Hot, dry, and breezy conditions will continue across the Inland Northwest and most of California, except the far southeastern portion of the state, where monsoonal moisture will bring another round of showers and thunderstorms. The monsoonal circulation will also produce scattered showers and thunderstorms across the Southwest into Utah and eastern Nevada, where lighter precipitation amounts will increase the potential for new fire starts. Across the Northern Great Plains and Great Lakes, southerly winds will prevail through much of the day before shifting westerly this evening and overnight with the arrival of thunderstorms.
Daily statistics
Number of new large fires or emergency response * New fires are identified with an asterisk
