2023 North American Wildfires

Though we would like to, we are unable to share information on every fire across the continent. Below, you will find some general information about the most significant fires of 2023.

In California, we focus on fires that exceed 50,000 acres. In all other states, Mexico and Canada, we cover fires that significantly impact the surrounding areas and environment, and affect residents, especially at-risk populations.

The National Preparedness Level – set by the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group – remains at Level 2 as of June 1, 2023, which indicates that “large wildland fires are burning throughout the country, requiring resources to be mobilized from different areas.”

The National Interagency Fire Center statistics show that as of June 1, 2023, there have been 18,280 fires this year that have burned a total of 511,498 acres. This is below the 10-year average (2013-2022) of 21,735 fires and the average acreage of 1.01 million acres.

As of June 1, there were at least 105 wildfires burning in 11 states, but the majority of the fires were extremely small.

The atmospheric rivers, heavy rains, flooding and increased snowpack have reduced the severity of early fires in California this year. As of June 1, California has only had 985 wildfires, with a total of 1,024 acres burned.

You can support CDP’s response to the wildfires by donating to our California Wildfires Recovery Fund.

As of June 1, the Pass Fire in the Gila National Forest in New Mexico has surpassed 17,000 acres. It is burning in a wilderness area and presents little risk to people.

The fire began due to lightning on May 17. Previous burn scars will hopefully limit growth, and firefighters are allowing it to burn naturally. This fire is a good example of the way an ecosystem is often dependent upon fire for regrowth and forest management.

As of June 1, there were 13 active fires in Oregon, with 3,590 acres burned. The majority of those acres were destroyed in the Dillion Creek fire. It was discovered on May 20 and, by June 1, had burned 3,119 acres and was 85% contained. Central and southeastern Oregon is predicted to have above-normal fire risk this year.

“The National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC), located at the National Interagency Fire Center has sent additional resources to Canada in response to a request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) in Canada. There are approximately 225 federal firefighting resources and support personnel assigned to various wildfires in Canada.

The National Interagency Coordination Center located at the National Interagency Fire Center “continues to work with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center [CIFFC] to support ongoing wildfires in Alberta and British Columbia. Resources from the United States include interagency hotshot crews, incident management teams, equipment and supplies.”

Currently, the CIFFC remains Preparedness Level 5 due to continued hot, dry conditions and extreme fire activity that is being observed on many incidents across provinces and territories in Canada.

As of June 1, 2023, the CIFFC has reported 1,866 fires in the year-to-date and 7.2 million acres (almost 2.9 million hectares) burned. There are currently 225 large, active fires, with 99 out of control, 83 under control and 43 being held.

Poor air quality from the smoke has extended across parts of Canada and the New England region of the U.S.

In Nova Scotia, there are 16 active fires and only three out of control fires, but they have led to the evacuation of more than 22,000 people.

On May 28, the capital city, Halifax, declared a state of emergency due to the fires in the nearby communities of Tantallon and Hammonds Plains. While a full assessment has not been completed, as of June 1, at least 150 homes and 50 additional structures were destroyed by the fires. Containment is at 50% with a little over 2,000 acres burned.

The province’s largest ever fire is burning in Shelburne County. At nearly 50,000 acres, it has already burned six times more than all the wildfires in 2022 (7,400 acres). At least 50 homes have been destroyed. About 5,000 people – approximately 40% of the county’s population – has been forced to leave.

About 4,600 customers are without power across the province as of June 1.

Fires were bad in the maritime province of New Brunswick at the end of May. The province has already exceeded its 10-year average for forest fires (157 fires and 706.47 acres). In 2022, there were 138 fires that burned 301.7 acres. So far (June 1), there have been 170 fires, burning 2,158 acres.

On Sunday, May 28, there were 15 separate fires burning across the province and multiple evacuations were issued. While the Stein Lake fire was out-of-control on May 28, it was deemed manageable by June 1. It has reached 1,300 acres (540 hectares), but only one home burned down in Bocabec.

An ATV club has asked members to stay off trails and several forestry operations have placed daytime restrictions on their operations.

In British Columbia, there are 39 active fires. There is one wildfire that is considered a Wildfire of Note, which means that the fire “is highly visible or poses a potential threat to public safety.” There are also five smaller fires across the province that are deemed to be out of control.

The wildfire of note is in the central and northeast region of the province, known as the Prince George Fire Center. This large forest region has the “boundaries of the Prince George Fire Centre include the north of the Interior Plateau and the Omenica Mountains to the north, sections of the Rocky Mountain Trench and Peace Liard country to the east and part of the Cariboo range to the south.”

The Donnie Creek Fire is a lightning or natural-caused fire, discovered on May 12. As of June 1, it remained out of control and had burned over 416,000 acres (168,395 hectares). The fire is burning in the traditional territories of Blueberry River First Nations, Doig River First Nations and Halfway River First Nations.

In Alberta, there are 63 active fires and there have already been more than 550 fires in 2023, as of June 1. Of the active fires, 27.12% are out of control, 30.51% are being held and 42.37% are under control. A provincial state of emergency has been declared.

There are 10 wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta. More than 4,400 people have been evacuated from their homes due to the Alberta fires. This includes about 1,000 residents of Fort Chipewyan, a very remote northern community located 190 miles north of Fort McMurray. After the ice road melts, this community is only accessible by plane or boat which made evacuation efforts challenging. The Fort Chipewyan fire has burned about 21,000 acres as of June 1.

The Deep Creek Complex has burned nearly 70,000 acres.

The Grizzly Complex is near the communities of High Prairie, Swan Hills and Slave Lake. It has burned almost over 442,000 acres.

The Eagle Complex is near Fox Creek and Little Smoky and has burned over 317,000 burned acres.

The Kimiwan Complex is located near the Peavine Métis Settlement, Three Creeks and Simon Lake. It is has burned more than 317,000 acres.

The Pembina Wildfire Complex is near Lodgepole, Edson, Brazeau Dam and the O’Chiese Reserve. It is almost 550,000 acres in size.

The Long Lake Fire is located near the Rainbow Lake community and had burned over 330, 000 acres. All of these fires are out of control and have firefighters, helicopters and heavy equipment working on the response.

Wildfire season in Mexico is generally November to May, with a peak from March to May. As the official season approaches the end, there have been numerous fires in western Mexico.

As of May 18, the year-to-date total was 4,142 fires across 32 states for a total area of nearly 670,000 acres (270,948 hectares). From May 12-May 18 there were 92 fires, burning an area of nearly 74,000 acres (29,862.39 hectares). Most of these fires (96% of area burnt) were in Jalisco, Durango, Campeche, Nayarit and Zacatecas.