Wildfires in the United States

[1] They may be triggered naturally, most commonly by lightning, or by human activity like unextinguished smoking materials, faulty electrical equipment, overheating automobiles, or arson.

In the 21st century, higher temperature and droughts driven by global warming have become more of a concern, and there has been increased advocacy for controlled burns and other measures to prevent fuel from accumulating in wild areas that can create more intense, larger, and difficult-to-control fires.

[3] As a result, the U.S. Forest Service was able to acquire a deficit of over $1 million in 1910 due to emergency fire suppression efforts.

[3] Despite strong funding for fire suppression in the first half of the 20th century, massive wildfires continued to be prevalent across the landscape of North America.

Ecologists were beginning to recognize the presence and ecological importance of natural, lightning-ignited wildfires across the United States.

[4] By the 1980s, in light of this new understanding, funding efforts began to support prescribed burning in order to prevent wildfire events.

[4] In addition to using prescribed fire to reduce the chance of catastrophic wildfires, mechanical methods have recently been adopted as well.

Mechanical methods include the use of chippers and other machinery to remove hazardous fuels and thereby reduce the risk of wildfire events.

Today the United States Forest Service maintains that "fire, as a critical natural process, will be integrated into land and resource management plans and activities on a landscape scale, and across agency boundaries.

The bill is a reaction to United States Forest Service and Department of Interior costs of Western Wildfire suppression appending that amounted to $3.5 billion in 2013.

FEMA and the NFPA develop specific policies to guide homeowners and builders in how to build and maintain structures at the WUI and how protect against property losses.

Today, in the United States, it is not uncommon for suppression operations for a single wildfire to cost millions of dollars.

[20] These longer seasons also start earlier due to the loss of snowpack during the winter causing less moisture in summer soil making it better fuel for wildfires.

Aggressive suppression in the 20th century reduced wildfire size and intensity, but the resulting buildup of fuels has led to a resurgence in the last couple decades.

[26] Finally, a 2020 research paper suggests that the number of autumn days with “extreme fire weather” has doubled over the past two decades.

In 2020, as of October 21, "Coordination Centers" of each geography report the following:[30] Note: Check primary sources for up-to-date statistics.