The National Interagency Fire Center increased the National Preparedness Level to PL3 on Thursday, marking a shift toward needed national support as the U.S. nears peak fire season.

The increase was driven by significant wildland fire activity across the country, with the potential of additional large fires remaining elevated in the days ahead, the NIFC said. Nearly 5,000 personnel are actively assigned to fires nationwide,

Over 33,000 fires have been reported and 2.6 million acres burned so far in 2026, far above the 10-year average year-to-date of 24,685 fires and 1.6 million acres burned.

“While current resource capability remains sufficient to sustain incident operations, geographic areas are increasingly utilizing national support to accomplish incident management objectives,” the Center said in its latest update. “The increase reflects growing demand for firefighting resources and heightened fire potential across several regions of the country.”

Fire activity is largely concentrated across the Northwest, Great Basin, Southwest and Rocky Mountain areas, Center officials said. Severe large fires recently triggered evacuations and threatened structures in both Washington and Oregon. New fires in Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Nebraska are also rapidly growing.

Fire risk remains elevated throughout the western third of the U.S. due to persistent triple-digit heat, single-digit relative humidity, and breezy conditions, according to the Center’s report. Incoming thunderstorms with only spotty rainfall also heighten wildfire risk over the northern Sierra, southeast Arizona, southern New Mexico, and west Texas.

“Unprecedented” snow drought and record-low water shortages are expected ahead of what is forecast to be a very active fire season, according to federal officials.

“Many of the rivers are likely to experience well-below median streamflows, which may rival the lowest flows on record for the region,” the Service said in the Department’s most recent Water and Climate Update. “Water shortages are anticipated in many locations, especially for entities that rely on surface streamflow water, without the benefit of having access to stored reservoir water.”

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