New York wildfires

Are wildfire records common in New York?

New York averages about 4.9 wildfire records a year since 2000, 29th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2002 (24). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New York records 7.2 wildfire records since 1996, 31st 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
11. 31. New York 7.2

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 New York have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Schenectady County leads New York: 2 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 9.8 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Ulster County has the most wildfire records (6 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. Schenectady County 9.8 (3)
2. Ulster County 4.4 (6)
3. Rensselaer County 3.1 (3)
4. Dutchess County 2.5 (3)
5. Montgomery County 2.5 (1)
6. Washington County 2.4 (2)
7. Fulton County 2.0 (1)
8. Albany County 1.9 (2)
9. Schoharie County 1.6 (1)
10. Columbia County 1.6 (2)
11. Greene County 1.5 (2)
12. Saratoga County 1.2 (2)

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 New York?

76% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is July (25 records).

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

The costliest wildfire records in New York

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 New York?

New York'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 New York

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 New York

FEMA has declared 4 disasters in New York 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 November 15, 2024.

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

Next

• Schenectady County: the county's whole recordThe New York county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in New YorkTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Severe thunderstorm wind in New York19,988 records
• Winter storms in New York13,456 records
• Floods in New York6,836 records