Nation at Preparedness Level 5: Over 30,000 Firefighters Deployed as 94 Large Fires Burn Uncontained

The United States wildfire response system is operating at its maximum capacity. The National Multi-Agency Coordinating (NMAC) Group raised the National Preparedness Level to 5 — the highest possible — on July 18, and it has remained there as fire activity continues at an extreme pace across the western U.S. and Pacific Northwest.

By the Numbers

As of the morning of Sunday, August 9, the Incident Management Situation Report from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reported:

94 uncontained large fires burning across the United States
30,419+ personnel assigned to wildfire incidents nationwide
645 hand crews deployed
1,870 fire engines in service
226 helicopters committed to fire operations
27 complex incident management teams assigned
183 new fires reported in the prior 72 hours, including 8 new large fires
5.15 million acres burned year to date — 137% of the 10-year average
44,700+ fires recorded nationwide so far this season

What Preparedness Level 5 Means

National Preparedness Level 5 signals that wildfire activity has reached extreme levels and that firefighting resources are fully committed nationwide. At this level, all available national firefighting resources — hand crews, engines, air tankers, helicopters, and incident management teams — are deployed or reserved. Geographic areas experiencing major incidents must compete for scarce national resources, and international resource sharing agreements with Canada and Australia may be activated to supplement domestic capacity.

Pacific Northwest Resource Demand

The Northwest Coordination Center (NWCC), based in Portland and responsible for coordinating firefighting resources across Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, is managing an exceptionally high demand for resources. The Kaiser Canyon Fire, Little Giant Fire, and Spokane Complex in Washington, the Hagen and Rowe Creek Complex fires in Oregon, and the Tartar and Big Grass fires in Idaho are all drawing significant personnel and equipment.

The Rowe Creek Complex alone has had over 1,746 personnel assigned at its peak. The scale of simultaneous incidents is straining crew rotation schedules, with extended operational periods raising fatigue-related safety concerns for firefighters on the line.

International Cooperation

With fires simultaneously burning in British Columbia and the U.S. side of the Pacific Northwest, cross-border coordination has been critical. Canadian provincial and federal fire agencies are themselves heavily committed to fires in B.C. this season, limiting the mutual aid resources available to U.S. requests. NASA satellite imagery has documented smoke plumes from simultaneous fires in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia merging into a single regional smoke event.

Fire Behavior and Season Outlook