The National Interagency Coordination Center raised the National Preparedness Level to 5 — the highest on the five-point scale — on July 18, 2026, a designation that signals firefighting resources are heavily committed across the country and that new or growing fires may struggle to get immediate reinforcements. The level has remained at 5 for over a week, with no indication that conditions will ease enough to step it down in the near term.

By the Numbers

As of Friday, July 24, 2026, the NICC reports:

  • 78 large fires burning across 14 states
  • 23,151 firefighters and support personnel engaged
  • 513 crews deployed nationwide
  • 1,327 engines on the line
  • 153 helicopters in use
  • 15 new large incidents since the previous day
  • 4 fires contained in the reporting period
  • Year-to-date: 41,779 fires burning more than 4 million acres — compared to 2.98 million acres at this point in 2025

Oregon leads all states with 25 active large fires. Washington and Idaho contribute 6 and 5 respectively, with the Northwest collectively managing the highest regional fire load in the nation.

What Preparedness Level 5 Means

At Level 5, all available national resources — including interagency hotshot crews, heavy air tankers, large airtanker bases, and Type 1 Incident Management Teams — are committed. Agencies must prioritize resource requests, meaning lower-priority incidents may not receive immediate federal assistance. Local and state resources are carrying a heavier burden than usual.

NPR reported this week that officials are considering calling in international firefighting resources, including crews from Canada, if conditions do not improve. Canada itself is dealing with significant fire activity this summer.

Northwest Resources Under Stress

The Northwest Geographic Area is maintaining several Type 1 and Type 2 Incident Management Teams across Oregon and Washington, including the Northwest Complex IMT 7 managing the Hagen complex near Pendleton and an Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Type 3 IMT on the Little Giant Fire. The Kaiser Canyon Fire is being managed under a unified command structure involving the Colville Tribes and state and federal agencies.

Aviation resources, including single-engine air tankers, heavy airtankers, and helicopters, are being prioritized for fires with the most immediate structure threat. Residents in fire-prone communities are encouraged to reduce the need for last-minute emergency resource deployment by completing defensible space work around their homes now.