The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) elevated the National Preparedness Level to 3 (PL3) on June 18, 2026, as significant wildland fire activity continues across multiple geographic areas and the potential for additional large fires remains elevated heading into late June.
As of June 23, firefighters are engaged on 31 large fires burning across eight geographic areas in the continental United States and Alaska. More than 5,000 personnel, including two complex incident management teams, are currently assigned to active incidents nationwide. So far in 2026, 34,038 fires have burned more than 2.7 million acres — a pace well above the 10-year average for this time of year.
What Preparedness Level 3 Means
The National Preparedness Level system runs on a scale from 1 to 5, with PL5 representing the highest demand on the national firefighting system. At PL3, current resource capability remains sufficient to sustain ongoing incident operations, but geographic areas are increasingly drawing on national support to accomplish their incident management objectives.
The increase to PL3 reflects growing competition for aerial resources, hand crews, and incident management teams across multiple regions simultaneously — a dynamic that becomes increasingly critical as the heart of fire season approaches in the Pacific Northwest.
Great Basin Leads in Large Fire Numbers
The Great Basin geographic area currently hosts the largest number of large fires, with 11 active large fires. The largest single fire in the country is the South Fork Fire in Nebraska, last reported at nearly 40,000 acres, though it is 90 percent contained with minimal active fire behavior.
Other areas with significant activity include Alaska (5 large fires), Utah (5), and Florida (4). The Pacific Northwest has seen a rapid increase in fire starts over the past two weeks as drought conditions deepened and high temperatures arrived ahead of schedule.
A High-Pressure Pattern Drives Western Risk
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service are tracking a rebuilding high-pressure ridge across the West this week that will bring warming and drying conditions to the region. Relative humidity across southeast Oregon into southern Idaho is forecast to fall to single digits, combined with westerly winds gusting to 30 mph on the Snake River Plain — creating elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions.
Lightning holdovers from thunderstorms that moved through portions of the northern Intermountain West late last week remain a concern as they can smolder for days before emerging as new fire starts under these drying conditions.
Fourth of July Warning
With Independence Day approaching, NIFC is urging the public to exercise extreme caution with fireworks. Every year, fireworks ignite wildfires on public and private land alike. Fireworks are prohibited on all national forest and BLM lands. Residents in high-risk areas are urged to check local ordinances and consider foregoing private fireworks displays entirely during this period of elevated fire danger.