The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) raised the National Preparedness Level to PL3 on June 18, 2026, as wildland fire activity intensifies across multiple regions of the United States simultaneously and the demand for shared firefighting resources grows.

What Preparedness Level 3 Means

The National Preparedness Level system ranges from 1 (low activity) to 5 (most severe). At PL3, mobilization of resources nationally is required to sustain incident operations in active geographic areas, and national priorities must be established to address competition for shared resources. While current resource capability remains sufficient to sustain operations, geographic areas are increasingly leaning on national support.

As of June 18:

  • 74 new fires were reported in a single day across the nation
  • 27 large fires remain uncontained nationally
  • Nearly 5,000 personnel are assigned to incidents, including two Complex Incident Management Teams
  • 33,349 fires have burned 2,627,549 acres nationally in 2026 — well above the 10-year average of 24,685 fires and 1,611,629 acres for the same period

Fire Activity Concentrated in the West

NIFC reports that fire activity is concentrated across the Northwest, Great Basin, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain geographic areas. In the Northwest specifically, several new large fires emerged in Washington and Oregon, including the Kartar, Roza, Cable Creek, and Tucannon Mutual Aid fires, where firefighters are responding to active fire behavior, threatened structures, and ongoing evacuations and road closures.

In the Great Basin — which includes southern Idaho and Nevada — new fires including the Median, Kane Springs, and Grapevine fires are exhibiting rapid growth and challenging fire behavior. The Kane Springs and Grapevine fires in Nevada are burning approximately 7,500 and 8,800 acres respectively near Caliente, Nevada.

Resource Competition Begins

The elevation to PL3 means that resources such as hotshot crews, air tankers, and Incident Management Teams will increasingly be prioritized and competed for at a national level. Fire managers in the Pacific Northwest, which faces its own multi-fire crisis, will need to compete with other geographic areas for resources including Type 1 helicopters, large air tankers, and specialized crews.

The Northwest Coordination Center had already mobilized multiple Incident Management Teams across Washington's active fires: Complex IMT NW Team 2 is managing both the Tule Road and Upriver incidents, while NW WA IMT 3 is running the Kartar Fire in Okanogan County.

2026 Season Tracking Above Average

The 2026 fire season is tracking significantly above the 10-year average on both fire count and acreage. At this pace, if fire activity continues at or above average through summer, 2026 could approach or exceed the 2022 season, which saw 3.1 million acres burned through mid-June. With peak fire season still ahead, fire managers across the West are warning that conditions are ripe for continued significant fire activity.