Washington wildfires

Are wildfire records common in Washington?

Washington averages about 20 wildfire records a year since 2000, 6th of 48 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2015 (67). Per 10,000 square miles of land, Washington records 82 wildfire records since 1996, 8th 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 Washington have the most wildfire records?

Per square mile, Douglas County leads Washington: 84 days with a wildfire record since 1996, 46.2 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Okanogan County has the most wildfire records (180 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. Douglas County 46.2 (102)
2. Spokane County 35.1 (78)
3. Chelan County 31.5 (123)
4. Walla Walla County 28.3 (38)
5. Grant County 26.1 (76)
6. Adams County 23.4 (48)
7. Okanogan County 23.0 (180)
8. Franklin County 20.1 (27)
9. Pend Oreille County 19.3 (33)
10. Asotin County 18.9 (12)
11. Klickitat County 18.2 (39)
12. Lincoln County 17.7 (46)

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 Washington?

65% of its wildfire records since 1996 fell in July and August. The busiest month is August (196 records).

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

What were the deadliest wildfire records in Washington?

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 Washington

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 Washington?

Washington'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 Washington

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 Washington

FEMA has declared 155 disasters in Washington for wildfire, counting its incident type and declarations that name fire in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 8 were major disasters, the latest on August 3, 2026.

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

Next

• Douglas County: the county's whole recordThe Washington county with the most wildfire records per square mile
• Wildfires across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
• Every natural hazard in WashingtonTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
• Winter storms in Washington4,060 records
• High wind and dust storms in Washington2,210 records
• Floods in Washington832 records