Active Wildfire Situation Reports and Maps

The Most Up-To-Date Information for the U.S.

forest fire in Montana — A forest fire burning the side of a mountain in Montana.
Patrick Orton/Getty Images

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Updated on August 29, 2018

During wildfire season in North America, it's imperative to have access to the most current information about what is burning where. There is an overwhelming amount of data available from dozens of firefighting and wildfire protection agencies—so much so that it can be difficult to get just the right information at the right time. The following are five of the best online sources of wildfire information that fire managers and wildland fire suppression units depend on. From these sites, you will have access to the most critical and up-to-date information available.

Included are continually updated and mapped locations of all active wildfires provided by the United States Forest Service and State Fire Agencies; the current situation and incident reports of these wildfires from the National Weather Service; and the forecasted reports of future wildfire potential and actual fire weather reports from the Wildland Fire Assessment System. We've also included a drought fire map, which is updated on a weekly basis.

Active Fire Mapping Program

This comprehensive site is managed by the United States Forest Service with info provided by the Geospatial Technology and Applications Center, located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The site gives you current information on the largest fires going on at any given time in the United States. When you click on the fires displayed on the map, you'll get a pop-up window with information that includes the fire's name, burn area size, state and county location, percentage of containment, expected containment date, and the latest date of the report. You can also access several satellite images from this site.

Daily Wildfire News and Current Reports

This site includes up-to-date reports and the overall fire situation in North America by state and province, including the total number of acres burned for the season to date. This news is updated every day during the most critical fire periods. The site also includes a summary weather report for the entire U.S., as well as historical information on the number of fires and acreage burned by year.

WFAS Current Fire Danger Rating Map

This is the United States Forest Service's Wildland Fire Assessment System (WFAS) observed fire danger rating or classification map. The WFAS compiles color-coded maps and drills down on fire danger subsets to include atmospheric stability, lightning potential, rain totals, greenness, drought conditions, and moisture levels.

NOAA Fire Weather Forecast Maps

NICC Wildland Fire Potential Assessment Map — National Interagency Coordination Center

The National Weather Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, offers this map warning of "red flag conditions" throughout the U.S. This warning indicates conditions capable of extreme wildfire destruction.

There is also a collection of the National Weather Service's fire weather forecast maps. The site gives you a projection of national fire weather for the next day that includes precipitation, temperatures, wind speeds, burning index, and fuel moisture.

U.S. Drought Monitor Map

USDA

This map features the most up-to-date information available on drought conditions for every region of the country. Data is submitted to the site by several federal agencies and scientists by 8 a.m. EDT every Tuesday, and the maps, based on the analysis of this data, are released every Thursday by 8:30 a.m. Drought conditions are classified by color, and include None, Abnormally Dry, Moderate Drought, Severe Drought, Extreme Drought, and Exceptional Drought. The map even provides information on predicted short-term and long-term impacts of the conditions.

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Your Citation

Nix, Steve. "Active Wildfire Situation Reports and Maps." ThoughtCo, Sep. 3, 2021, thoughtco.com/us-active-wildfire-situation-reports-maps-1342907. Nix, Steve. (2021, September 3). Active Wildfire Situation Reports and Maps. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/us-active-wildfire-situation-reports-maps-1342907 Nix, Steve. "Active Wildfire Situation Reports and Maps." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/us-active-wildfire-situation-reports-maps-1342907 (accessed June 3, 2023).