Worst States for Fire Danger

In the last eleven years, nearly 80 million acres have been consumed by wildfire, an area greater than the state of New Mexico. This map shows which states have been hit the hardest by wildfires since 2002. While the loss of innumerable lives, structures and habitats is tragic, much more of our land would have burned without thousands of men and women well trained in wildland firefighting. See where your state ranks in number of acres burned and total wildfires.

Wildfires since 2002

Acres Burned by State since 2002

  • California 87,742
  • Georgia 63,916
  • Texas 62,944
  • North Carolina 48,685
  • Florida 34,734
  • Arizona 27,470
  • Oklahoma 27,255
  • South Carolina 26,525
  • Alabama 25,623
  • Oregon 21,812
  • Minnesota 21,606
  • Massachusetts 20,575
  • Arkansas 19,309
  • Tennessee 18,577
  • Mississippi 18,496
  • Montana 18,436
  • Colorado 17,307
  • Louisiana 17,273
  • New Mexico 16,429
  • Kentucky 16,390
  • Wisconsin 15,318
  • Utah 14,731
  • Washington 14,679
  • Idaho 14,235
  • Missouri 14,177
  • New Jersey 13,238
  • South Dakota 12,843
  • Virginia 11,154
  • Nevada 8,829
  • North Dakota 8,417
  • West Virginia 8,194
  • Indiana 7,695
  • Ohio 6,036
  • Wyoming 5,834
  • Maine 5,720
  • Michigan 5,663
  • Alaska 5,550
  • Pennsylvania 4,889
  • Maryland 4,415
  • New Hampshire 4,017
  • Kansas 3,945
  • Connecticut 2,334
  • New York 1,864
  • Iowa 1,817
  • Vermont 1,170
  • Nebraska 1,002
  • Rhode Island 856
  • Illinois 659
  • Delaware 154
  • Hawaii 29