Alaska has burned about 43,000 acres this fire season, third lowest since 1993

A Quiet Fire Season by the Numbers

Alaska has burned about 43,000 acres this fire season, less area than all but two years since 1993. The statewide total through July 31 is less than 10 percent of the 1993-2025 median, according to the July Arctic wildfire update from Rick Thoman, climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.

That is not a summer without ignitions. Fires started. Most stayed small.

Two rounds of significant lightning crossed the state, one in late June and another in early July. Total strikes for the season ran only slightly below the median since 2012, when the current Alaska Fire Service detection network came online.

"Lightning activity this summer has not been particularly low compared to recent years, so the main reason for the relatively small area burned has been the lack of extended periods with hot, dry and windy conditions that favor fire spread," Thoman said.

July's burned area came to 13,700 acres, the fourth lowest July total in 34 years. That is less than half of June's total, which was under 29,000 acres and the sixth lowest June since 1993.

The largest fire in the state at the end of July was the Kilolitna fire north of Tanana, at 4,500 acres. In an active season, Thoman said, there might be two or three dozen fires larger than that.

A Sharp Contrast With Last Year

Alaska News previously covered the quiet June, when roughly 75,000 lightning strikes produced little growth because rain followed the storms. By July 31 of last year, more than 1.42 million acres had burned statewide.

A USDA Climate Hubs synthesis holds that warming is still driving larger and more frequent fires in Alaska's boreal forest and tundra over the long term.

August normally brings cooler air and fewer thunderstorms to the Interior.