Number of Wildfires by State 2025

What this chart shows. The 25 states that reported the most wildfires in 2025. California led with 8,951 fires, 11.5 per cent of the national total of 77,850, followed by Virginia with 7,709 and North Carolina with 6,872.

How the data is collected. The counts come from the 2025 annual report of the National Interagency Coordination Center, which compiles fires reported by federal land agencies and by state and local fire services through the SIT/209 situation-report system. Every reported wildfire counts once, whatever its size.

Background. The report counted 77,850 wildfires nationwide in 2025, up from 67,897 in 2024, and calls the total significantly above the five- and ten-year averages. The Southern Area, which stretches from Texas and Oklahoma to Virginia and Florida, had the most fires of any region.

Limits. States log small fires with different thoroughness, so counts partly reflect reporting habits: Iowa reported 3,173 fires, more than Oregon's 2,734, although Oregon burned far more land. The 50 state tables add up to 77,799 fires, slightly below the national total given elsewhere in the same report.