Facts + Statistics: Wildfires

Wildland fires

As many as 90 percent of wildland fires in the United States are caused by humans, according to the U.S. Department of Interior. Some human-caused fires result from campfires left unattended, the burning of debris, negligently discarded cigarettes and intentional acts of arson. The remaining 10 percent are started by lightning or lava. 

According to Verisk’s 2017 Wildfire Risk Analysis 4.5 million U.S. homes were identified at high or extreme risk of wildfire, with more than 2 million in California alone. Losses from wildfires added up to $5.1 billion over the past 10 years.

Wildfires by year

2017: From January 1 to December 22, 2017, there were 66,131 wildfires, compared to 65,575 wildfires in the same period in 2016, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 9.8 million acres were burned in the 2017 period, compared with 5.4 million in 2016. As of December 22, for the year so far, 2017 ranked higher in number of acres burned compared to the 10-year average.

Beginning October 6 and continuing until October 25, eight counties in Northern California were hit by a devastating outbreak of wildfires which led to at least 23 fatalities, burned 245,000 acres and destroyed over 8,700 structures. 

In December five major fires in Southern California destroyed over a thousand homes and buildings. One of the fires, the Thomas Fire, became the largest wildfire ever recorded in California. Catastrophe modeling firm RMS estimates that the Thomas Fire will cost up to $2.5 billion in insured losses. The California Department of Insurance reported that insurance claims from the October-December fires add up to almost $12 billion, which makes the 2017 fire season the costliest on record.

2016: There were a total of 5.5 million acres burned by wildfires in 2016. On May 1 of that year, a wildfire broke out in the Alberta city of Fort McMurray. The fire is set to become the costliest ever Canadian natural disaster for insurers, with 1,600 buildings destroyed and more under threat. Two fatalities are attributed to the fire and the entire population of about 90,000 were evacuated. The smoke from the fire could be seen as far south as Iowa.

2015: The 2015 fire season set a new record for the number of acres burned in the United States. Between January 1 and December 30, 2015 there were 68,151 wildfires, which burned 10.1 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. During the same period in 2014, 63,417 fires burned 3.6 million acres. The previous record was set in 2006 at 9,873,745 acres.

Number of Acres Burned in Wildfires, 1980–2016

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Source: National Interagency Fire Center.

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Wildfire Losses In The United States, 2007-2016 (1)

(2016 $ millions)

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(1) Adjusted for inflation by Munich Re based on the Consumer Price Index.

Source: © 2017 Munich Re, Geo Risks Research, NatCatSERVICE.

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