Hawaii wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Hawaii?

Hawaii averages about 11 wildfire records a year since 2000, 10th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2003 (27). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Hawaii records 441 wildfire records since 1996, 1st of 48 states and territories by that measure.

1. 1. Hawaii 441
2. 2. New Jersey 241
3. 3. Puerto Rico 137
4. 4. California 102
5. 5. Florida 91
6. 6. Oklahoma 88
7. 7. Delaware 87
8. 8. Washington 82
9. 9. Oregon 77
10. 10. Colorado 64

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.

Which counties in Hawaii have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Honolulu County leads Hawaii: 81 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 134.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Hawaii County has the most wildfire records (100 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).

1. Honolulu County 134.8 (84)
2. Maui County 57.7 (71)
3. Kauai County 43.6 (28)
4. Hawaii County 24.1 (100)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.

When is fire season in Hawaii?

Hawaii's wildfire records by month. The busiest month is July (57 records).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.

What were the deadliest wildfire records in Hawaii?

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.

The costliest wildfire records in Hawaii

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.

Are wildfire records becoming more frequent in Hawaii?

Hawaii's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.

The most recent wildfire records in Hawaii

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.

Federal disaster declarations for wildfire records in Hawaii

FEMA has declared 29 disasters in Hawaii for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); one was a major disaster, the latest on July 26, 2026.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.

Next

• Honolulu County: the county's whole recordThe Hawaii county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in HawaiiTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Rip currents and high surf in Hawaii9,301 records
• Drought in Hawaii1,685 records
• Floods in Hawaii865 records