Latest Wildfire Headlines
All the headlines from our Wildfire Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California, Texas Top Western States for Extreme Risk of Wildfire Damage
Dec 5 2016 // California and Texas rank first and second for the total number of residential properties at an extreme risk for wildfire damage, according to data provider CoreLogic. The reasons for that include: both states have large...
Tennessee Wildfire Death Toll Rises to 7; City of Gatlinburg Surveys Damage
Dec 2 2016 // Three more bodies were found in the ruins of wildfires that torched hundreds of homes and businesses in the Great Smoky Mountains area, raising the death toll to seven, a Tennessee mayor said Wednesday. Search-and-rescue...
Tennessee Fire Forces Thousands to Evacuate, Destroys Hundreds of Homes
Dec 1 2016 // With flames dripping from tree branches and the air filled with embers, thousands of people raced through a hellish landscape as they fled wildfires that killed three people and destroyed hundreds of homes and a resort in...
Storms Across Southeast to Help Fight Wildfires, But Risk Still Remains
Nov 30 2016 // Storms roaring across the South appeared to be taking aim at some of the largest wildfires burning across the region, which could finally help firefighters in their efforts to subdue the blazes, authorities said...
Crews Establish Control Line Around Virginia Wildfire
Nov 28 2016 // Authorities say crews have established a control line around a wildfire that’s burned thousands of acres in central Virginia’s George Washington and Thomas Jefferson national forests. The U.S. Forest Service...
Crews Protect 60 Virginia Homes from Wildfires, but Blazes Continue
Nov 18 2016 // Virginia is one of several southern states battling forest fires caused by humans and fueled by drought. Ed Stoots of Virginia’s Forestry Department said Wednesday that crews have fought up to 20 blazes in more than...
Burn Bans Enacted Over Much of Dry Southeast as Fires Continue
Nov 17 2016 // As drought-stressed forests burn across much of the South – including a blaze scorching a Manhattan-sized area of north Georgia – some traditional outdoor activities are now banned. Starting campfires, lighting...
Search is on For Suspects Behind Southeast Wildfires, 2 Arrested in Kentucky
Nov 14 2016 // A wannabe weatherman was jailed for arson after admitting he started a wildfire to draw attention to his selfie videos on Facebook, his town’s police chief said Friday. Meanwhile, a Georgia sheriff appealed for help...
Wildfires Rage Throughout Southeast States, Arson Suspected
Nov 14 2016 // Wildfires near the Georgia-North Carolina line are spewing smoke so thick that residents are being urged to wear special masks if they must do outdoor activities. The fires – many of them suspected arsons – have...
2016 Wildfire Season Not Likely to Top Record-Setting 2015 Season
Nov 8 2016 // This post is part of a series sponsored by CoreLogic. Trajectory Shows Fewer Fires and Fewer Total Acres Burned in 2016 In 2015, the amount of area consumed by wildfires in the U.S. topped 10 million acres for the first...
Louisiana Ag Department: Wildfire Risk High in State
Nov 7 2016 // Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is warning Louisiana residents that the state’s wildfire risk remains higher than normal because of dry conditions. The state agriculture department says 19 parishes have enacted...
1.8 Million Western U.S. Homes at Extreme or High Wildfire Risk, Report Shows
Nov 7 2016 // Data provider CoreLogic’s new annual Wildfire Risk report designates 1.8 million single-family homes across 13 Western states as being at “Extreme” or “High” risk of wildfire damage,...
Colonial Pipeline Explosion in Alabama Injures 7, Causes 2 Wildfires
Nov 2 2016 // An explosion along the Colonial Pipeline in rural Alabama injured at least seven workers Monday not far from where the line burst and leaked thousands of gallons of gasoline last month, authorities said. The blast, which...
Foresters Say New Hampshire Drought Has Increased Threat of Wildfires
Oct 26 2016 // Drought conditions are making it harder to fight wildfires and New Hampshire residents should be vigilant about the increased threat, state forestry and fire officials say. Conditions range from abnormally dry to extreme...
1.8 Million Western U.S. Homes at Extreme or High Wildfire Risk, Report Shows
Oct 26 2016 // Things haven’t gone as bad as they could have so far in 2016 coming off last year’s record-setting wildfire season in the Western U.S., according to a report out today detailing wildfire risks to properties in...
Minor Flooding Follows Downpour in Nevada Wildfire Area
Oct 19 2016 // Fears of flooding are dissipating after rainfall helped quell a wind-whipped wildfire in Northern Nevada that destroyed 22 homes and 17 other structures in the Washoe Valley north of Carson City. Sierra Front Fire...
Slow Pace of Insurance Payouts, Rebuilding Angers Alberta Wildfire Victims
Oct 18 2016 // Some five months after the wildfires that devastated Fort McMurray were extinguished, anger over red tape and the slow pace of insurance payouts and permit issuance is flaring in the remote northern Canadian city. More...
Wildfires Threaten Alabama; Governor Signs No Burn Order
Oct 14 2016 // Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday signed an order banning outside fires across most of Alabama because dry conditions have led to fast-spreading wildfires. The governor signed the drought emergency declaration, putting 46...
California Rural Communities Evacuated in Wake of Heat-driven Wildfire
Sep 27 2016 // More evacuations were ordered Tuesday as a growing wildfire threatened remote communities in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains. The blaze in a rugged area 30 miles south of San Jose destroyed one home and charred...
Fire Season in Wyoming’s Yellowstone Seen as One of Worst in Decades
Sep 26 2016 // The wildfire season this summer in Yellowstone, Wyo. is being called the worst in decades. A larger percentage of Yellowstone National Park burned this summer than in any year since 1988. The wildfire season of 2003 was...
