The 2026 wildfire season is placing extraordinary demands on the nation's firefighting workforce and equipment. As of the most recent National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) situation report, more than 28,710 personnel are assigned to wildland fire incidents across the United States — a number that reflects a system operating near maximum capacity during a record-setting fire season.

National Resource Deployment

The NICC has been coordinating the movement of firefighting resources from across the country to support the Pacific Northwest, which is hosting the largest concentration of large fires in the nation. Resources being deployed to the region include:

  • Hand crews from multiple geographic areas, including crews mobilized from the Southeast and Southwest
  • Engine strike teams from as far away as Florida
  • Expanded aerial resources, including airtankers and helicopters repositioned from other geographic areas
  • Additional overhead and logistics personnel to support complex incident management operations

Fire managers emphasized in the most recent NIFC situation report that balancing the need to preposition resources for initial attack — to prevent new ignitions from growing into large fires — against the enormous resource demands of existing large fires is one of the central challenges of this phase of the season.

Washington National Guard Deployment

Washington State has called on its National Guard in force this fire season. More than 300 Washington National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are activated to support wildland firefighting operations across the state, working alongside the Washington Department of Natural Resources, USFS, and other agencies.

Guard members are providing:

  • Aviation support: Helicopter operations for reconnaissance, water drops, and crew transport to remote fire areas.
  • Hand crew support: Soldiers serving as fireline crew members under DNR and USFS supervision, working directly on fire containment.
  • Security and logistics: Supporting evacuation orders, road closures, and base camp operations for large incidents.

Guard members have been particularly active at the Little Giant Fire near Leavenworth, where the remote terrain and scale of the incident demand intensive aviation and crew resources.

Incident Management Teams

Multiple Type 1 and Type 2 Incident Management Teams (IMTs), including Complex Incident Management Teams (CIMTs), are actively managing fires across the Northwest. NW Team 13 is currently assigned to the Little Giant Fire and the adjacent Grand Park 2 incident. Other national teams have been assigned to fires in Oregon and Idaho.

The Three Queens Fire on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest was also identified in recent NIFC reporting as a fire receiving a CIMT assignment given its complexity and threat to infrastructure.

Firefighter Safety and Fatigue

Agency administrators and incident commanders have emphasized crew safety and work/rest compliance throughout the extended fire season. Many firefighters across the Northwest have now been on the line or in extended campaign assignments for weeks. The NICC's Incident Business and Safety sections are monitoring fatigue levels and rotation schedules to prevent accidents related to overextension.

The public can support firefighter safety by obeying all road and area closures, not flying drones near fire areas (which grounds aerial resources), and reporting new smoke or fire immediately to 911.