13.3 Wildfire season summary for 2023
The 2023 wildfire season was quiet when comparing acres burned information from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Figure 13.1. According to NIFC, the year 2023 was the quietest wildfire season in the last 25 years with only about 2.7 million acres burned nationally including Alaska. Table 13.1 provides the top 10 states for wildfire acres burned in 2023 as reported by NIFC. The states of Texas and Louisiana saw above average annual activity for wildfires.
Figure 13.1: Annual, national acres burned by wildfires in USA according to NIFC (1983-2023)
| Agency | Total number of fires (NIFC) | Total Acres (NIFC) |
|---|---|---|
| California | 7,364 | 332,722 |
| Alaska | 346 | 314,276 |
| New Mexico | 1,019 | 212,378 |
| Texas | 7,102 | 210,264 |
| Oregon | 1,979 | 202,035 |
| Arizona | 1,837 | 188,483 |
| Nebraska | 569 | 180,733 |
| Oklahoma | 1,580 | 162,489 |
| Washington | 1,707 | 151,316 |
| Montana | 1,662 | 123,133 |