Yesterday, 92 new fires were reported nationwide, including four new large fires. Firefighters are currently working to contain 80 uncontained large fires, with 28,710 personnel assigned to incidents nationwide.
The Northwest remains the nation's most active fire area, with 37 uncontained large fires. Several fires continue to threaten homes, communities and critical infrastructure, including the Little Giant Fire in Washington and the Grasshopper, Hagen and Wrights Spring fires in Oregon. Evacuations and area, road and trail closures remain in effect on multiple incidents. Fire activity also remains significant in the Great Basin, where the Widemouth 2 and Black Canyon fires in Utah continue to threaten residences and infrastructure, with evacuations and closures in effect.
So far in 2026, firefighters have responded to 48,960 wildfires that have burned more than 7.2 million acres across the United States, 129% of the 10-year average for fires and 169% for acres burned.
As this summer has seen fires across the country consume thousands of acres, it is important to remember that early suppression of new fire starts remains a vital objective. The vast majority of wildfires are contained within 24 hours of their discovery, also known as the initial attack stage; these fires do not get large enough to be listed on the incident management summary report. Prepositioning firefighters and firefighting resources strategically for initial attack, especially in areas where predictive services have identified a potential for large fire growth, is a critical consideration during the busiest part of the fire year and must be balanced with the tremendous need for resources to fight large fires.
Weather
Strong high pressure will deliver another very hot day across the Southern Plains and southeast US with high temperatures in the mid 90s to lower 100s. The heat will combine with minimum RHs in the mid-teens to mid 20s for much of Texas, southern Oklahoma, and a small portion of southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana resulting in a high risk burn environment. Scattered thunderstorms are also expected to develop around the periphery of the ridge including portions of Oklahoma, Arkansas, and much of the southeast US. Across the western half of the US, subtle warming will ensue, especially across the Pacific Northwest, while a weak upper- level disturbance tracks through northern California during the afternoon. This feature will bring gusty winds and low relative humidity values over northeast California, northern Nevada, southeast Oregon, into southern Idaho. This disturbance could also trigger some thunderstorms, especially over eastern Idaho into western Montana. Finally, Tropical Storm Lala will move west of the Hawaiian Islands bringing much lighter winds and a gradual end to the heavy precipitation.
