National Wildfire Overview

Stat Detail Source
58,403 wildfires recorded in the U.S. in 2023 - National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), 2024
2.7M acres burned by U.S. wildfires in 2023, below the 10-year average of ~7M acres - NIFC, 2024
~7M average acres burned annually in the U.S. over the past decade (2014–2023) - NIFC / U.S. Forest Service, 2024
10.1M acres burned in 2020, the highest single-year total in modern U.S. history - NIFC, 2021

| 1970s → now | U.S. wildfire season has extended by approximately 78 days (2.5 months) since the 1970s due to earlier snowmelt and drier conditions | - U.S. Forest Service, 2022 |

| 70,000+ | U.S. communities are at risk of wildfire damage in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) | - U.S. Forest Service, 2023 |

| 46 million | U.S. homes are in or adjacent to fire-prone wildland areas | - Insurance Information Institute / U.S. Forest Service, 2023 |

Acres Burned & Fire Frequency

| 2x | the average annual acreage burned by U.S. wildfires from 2000–2023 compared to the 1990s | - NIFC / U.S. Forest Service, 2023 |

| 84% | of U.S. wildfires are caused by human activity (debris burning, equipment use, arson, power lines, campfires) | - PNAS / U.S. Forest Service, 2017, remains the most cited figure through 2023 |

| 16% | of U.S. wildfires are caused by lightning, though lightning-caused fires often burn more acres due to remote locations | - U.S. Forest Service, 2023 |

Stat Detail Source
60,000–90,000 typical annual wildfire count in the U.S. (10-year average) - NIFC, 2024
$4.4B federal firefighting expenditures in fiscal year 2022, the highest on record at that time - U.S. Forest Service, 2022

Homes & Structures Destroyed

Stat Detail Source
3,569 structures destroyed by U.S. wildfires in 2023 - NIFC, 2024
10,488 structures destroyed by U.S. wildfires in 2022, a higher-than-average year - NIFC, 2023
18,804 structures destroyed in California alone during the 2018 fire season (Camp Fire + others) - CAL FIRE, 2019
13,900+ structures destroyed in Los Angeles area wildfires of January 2025, Palisades and Eaton fires - CAL FIRE / CAL OES, 2025

| ~5,000/yr | average U.S. structures destroyed by wildfire annually (10-year average including outlier years) | - NIFC, 2024 |

Fatalities & Injuries

Stat Detail Source
36 civilian deaths from U.S. wildfires in 2023 - NIFC, 2024
85 civilian deaths from the Camp Fire (Paradise, CA) in 2018, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in 100 years - CAL FIRE, 2018
29 civilian deaths in the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires (Palisades + Eaton fires) - Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, 2025
~100 firefighter and civilian deaths combined in an average high wildfire year (including hotshot crews, air attack, and evacuees) - NIFC / USFS, 2023

| 3x | higher lung disease and respiratory hospitalization rates recorded in communities during and after major wildfire smoke events | - CDC, 2022 |

Economic Costs

Stat Detail Source
$21.5B economic losses from California wildfires in 2018 alone - NOAA NCEI, 2019
$150B+ estimated insured losses from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, potentially the costliest wildfire event in U.S. history - Morningstar DBRS / Insurance industry estimates, 2025
$3.7B average annual U.S. wildfire economic losses (2014–2023) - NOAA NCEI, 2024
PG&E: $25.5B settlement paid by Pacific Gas and Electric for wildfire damages caused by its equipment (2019–2020) - PG&E / California courts, 2020

| $76B | estimated total U.S. wildfire-related health costs per year due to smoke exposure (hospitalizations, premature death, productivity loss) | - Environmental Health Perspectives, 2020 |

California Wildfire Statistics

Stat Detail Source
13 of 20 of California’s 20 largest wildfires on record have occurred since 2000 - CAL FIRE, 2023
2.2M acres burned by California wildfires in 2020, a new state record at the time - CAL FIRE, 2021

| 760,000 | acres burned by the August Complex fire in 2020, California’s largest single wildfire ever recorded | - CAL FIRE, 2020 |

| $1B+ | annual CAL FIRE budget for fire prevention and suppression, doubled since 2020 | - California Department of Finance, 2023 |

| ~400,000 | Californians were under evacuation orders or warnings at the peak of the January 2025 Los Angeles fires | - Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Services, 2025 |

| 500,000+ | Americans evacuated from wildfire-threatened areas in 2020, a record driven by California, Oregon, and Colorado fires | - FEMA, 2021 |

| 44% | of people in wildfire-prone areas say they do not have a wildfire evacuation plan | - American Red Cross, 2022 |

| 15 minutes | or less, how quickly residents in the Camp Fire (2018) had to evacuate; many had no prior warning | - CAL FIRE / ABC News, 2018 |

| 7% | of people under evacuation orders during major wildfires refuse to leave, endangering themselves and rescue personnel | - FEMA / Behavioral research studies, 2022 |

Frequently Asked Questions