US wildfire statistics (1983–2025)
“How many wildfires are there each year, and how much burns?” sounds like it should have one clean answer. It doesn't — the totals swing enormously from year to year, and plenty of numbers online quietly mix incompatible sources.
So here is the official record, unedited: the number of US wildland fires and the acres they burned, every year from 1983 to 2025, straight from the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) at NIFC — the same body that compiles the government's fire statistics. Chart, full table, and the worst years, each figure attributed and none invented.
Acres burned per year, 1983–2025. Peak: 2015 (10.13M acres). Source: National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) / NIFC.
What the numbers actually say
Two things jump out of the 43-year record. First, year-to-year variation is huge: 1984 saw about 1,148,409 acres burn, while 2015 saw 10,125,149 — nearly 9× as much. A single bad fire-weather season swamps any smooth trend.
Second, the two headline metrics move differently. The count of fires has been roughly flat — even lower in recent years — peaking back in 2006 (96,385 fires). But acres burned per year has been higher this century: the average for 2016–2025 was about 7,054,337 acres a year versus 2,701,641 for 1983–1992. In plain terms, fewer-or-similar fires, but bigger ones. We report that as an observation of the NIFC table — we don't attribute a cause; that's for the agencies and researchers who study it.
US wildfires by year, 1983–2025
The complete NICC/NIFC table — every year, fires and acres, newest first. This is the raw record; the chart above plots the acres column.
| Year | Wildland fires | Acres burned |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 77,850 | 5,131,474 |
| 2024 | 64,897 | 8,924,884 |
| 2023 | 56,580 | 2,693,910 |
| 2022 | 68,988 | 7,577,183 |
| 2021 | 58,985 | 7,125,643 |
| 2020 | 58,950 | 10,122,336 |
| 2019 | 50,477 | 4,664,364 |
| 2018 | 58,083 | 8,767,492 |
| 2017 | 71,499 | 10,026,086 |
| 2016 | 67,743 | 5,509,995 |
| 2015 | 68,151 | 10,125,149 |
| 2014 | 63,312 | 3,595,613 |
| 2013 | 47,579 | 4,319,546 |
| 2012 | 67,774 | 9,326,238 |
| 2011 | 74,126 | 8,711,367 |
| 2010 | 71,971 | 3,422,724 |
| 2009 | 78,792 | 5,921,786 |
| 2008 | 78,979 | 5,292,468 |
| 2007 | 85,705 | 9,328,045 |
| 2006 | 96,385 | 9,873,745 |
| 2005 | 66,753 | 8,689,389 |
| 2004 | 65,461 | 8,097,880 * |
| 2003 | 63,629 | 3,960,842 |
| 2002 | 73,457 | 7,184,712 |
| 2001 | 84,079 | 3,570,911 |
| 2000 | 92,250 | 7,393,493 |
| 1999 | 92,487 | 5,626,093 |
| 1998 | 81,043 | 1,329,704 |
| 1997 | 66,196 | 2,856,959 |
| 1996 | 96,363 | 6,065,998 |
| 1995 | 82,234 | 1,840,546 |
| 1994 | 79,107 | 4,073,579 |
| 1993 | 58,810 | 1,797,574 |
| 1992 | 87,394 | 2,069,929 |
| 1991 | 75,754 | 2,953,578 |
| 1990 | 66,481 | 4,621,621 |
| 1989 | 48,949 | 1,827,310 |
| 1988 | 72,750 | 5,009,290 |
| 1987 | 71,300 | 2,447,296 |
| 1986 | 85,907 | 2,719,162 |
| 1985 | 82,591 | 2,896,147 |
| 1984 | 20,493 | 1,148,409 |
| 1983 | 18,229 | 1,323,666 |
* Value carries an asterisk in the NIFC source table (agency footnote). · Source: NICC / NIFC.
The worst wildfire years on record
By acres burned, the worst single years in this record are led by 2015, 2020, 2017, 2006, 2007 — each near or above 10 million acres. That is the honest way to rank “worst” from this source: it counts years, not individual fires.
Rankings of the deadliest or most-destructive individual fires (by lives lost or structures burned) come from different records — coroner and agency after-action reports — which we don't compile here and won't approximate. For what is burning right now, see the live national map and the 2026 season tracker.
Wildfire statistics FAQ
- How many wildfires are there in the US each year?
- About 69,734 reported wildland fires a year on average across 1983–2025, but the range is wide — from 18,229 in 1983 to 96,385 in 2006 (NICC/NIFC). The number of fires does not track the acres burned.
- What was the worst wildfire year?
- By acres burned, 2015 — about 10,125,149 acres — is the most in this 1983–2025 record, just ahead of 2020 and 2017 (NICC/NIFC). “Worst” by lives or homes lost is a different ranking from other sources.
- Why does this data start in 1983?
- Per NIFC: Prior to 1983, the federal wildland fire agencies did not track official wildfire data using current reporting processes. As a result, there is no official data prior to 1983 posted on this site. So this page charts 1983 onward only, and never compares across that boundary.
- How current is this?
- This is the vendored NIFC snapshot through 2025. 1983-2021 are the NICC Situation Report table (TotalFires.pdf); 2022-2025 are the national Total Fires/Total Acres row from the NICC 2025 Annual Report. The overlap year 2021 matches across both sources (58,985 fires / 7,125,643 acres). A separate 2020-ending PDF (TotalFires_1.pdf) is a stale duplicate and is not used. For live, current-season figures, use the season tracker, which is computed from the WFIGS feed and labeled as such.
Sources & method
Annual fires and acres are the NICC / NIFC “Total Wildland Fires and Acres” record, extracted from the agency's published tables and vendored unchanged: 1983–2021 from the NICC Situation Report table, and 2022–2025 from the national Total Fires / Total Acres row of the NICC 2025 Wildland Fire Annual Report. The overlap year 2021 matches across both sources. Averages and decade comparisons are computed from that table and labeled “computed.” Per NIFC, data before 1983 is not comparable and is not included. No spread predictions, no risk editorializing, no cause attribution — we relay agency information only, attributed. Reviewed by Marko Visic, BSc Physics. Source: National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) / NIFC.