Publication Date September 15, 2015 | The Atlantic

Just How Bad Is the 2015 Fire Season?

United States
Firefighting (Image: The Atlantic)
Firefighting (Image: The Atlantic)

The truth is this year is among the worst in recent memory, according to statistics kept by the National Interagency Fire Center. Helpfully, the center tracks fires up to this point in the year going back a decade, so it’s easy to make an apples-to-apples comparison...The number of fires is actually down in recent years—but look at the number of acres burned and the picture changes. More land has burned so far in 2015 than in the same period in any year in the past decade.