More than 8.4 million acres have burned in the US since the start of the year — TIME
Since the start of 2026, wildfires in the United States have burned more than 8.4 million acres — approximately 1.3 million acres above the average annual figure of the previous decade. As of September 9, major fires were continuing in at least 13 states, TIME reports.
According to AccuWeather, by this point in 2026, fire had burned nearly twice as much land as during the same period in 2025. The active season is testing the updated federal response system and increasing the financial burden on states, taxpayers, insurance companies and households.
Resource shortage
From July 18 to September 4, the fifth — highest — national wildfire preparedness level was in effect in the United States. This meant extensive deployment of resources, and some regions had to take emergency measures to sustain operations. On September 9, the level was lowered to the third.
The National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group, which includes representatives of federal and state agencies, warned of high competition for firefighting resources. In its assessment, the system lacked incident-management resources to meet all requests.
Five Democratic senators, in a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, expressed concern about the agencies’ preparedness for the wildfire season. The letter stated that the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Wildland Fire Service had more than $6 billion in budget authority for fire suppression in fiscal year 2026 and had spent more than 70% of that amount by August 31.
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Costs for states and households
In Oregon, fires had burned 2.5 million acres by the end of August, while state costs reached $236.2 million. Authorities approved nearly $123 million in additional funding and authorized $150 million in short-term borrowing while awaiting federal reimbursements. Officials forecast that the total cost of the season could reach $350 million.
In Utah, where more than 559,000 acres had burned as of September 3, state costs amounted to about $44.9 million and were estimated to potentially approach $50 million. Federal expenditures related to fires in the state were estimated at approximately $216 million.
A review by the U.S. Department of the Interior estimated annual economic losses from fires at between $87 billion and $424 billion in 2022 dollars. The estimate includes property damage, health impacts and other economic losses, but the department cautioned that there are significant gaps in available data.
According to Stanford University researchers, average homeowners’ insurance premiums in California rose by 84% from the end of 2020 to March 2026. A study published in August also found that residents of homes destroyed by fire lost income for three years after a wildfire, with total losses equal to 26% of their annual pre-fire income.
