Wildfire Pulse Snapshot — July 22, 2026

Source: CWFIS Wildfire Pulse, data current as of 2026-07-24 21:47 UTC (reporting on July 22, 2026 conditions)

This is a baseline snapshot, logged for comparison against future updates as the season develops.

The numbers

• Active wildfires: 894
• Wildfires reported today: 45
• Extinguished fires: 3,080
• Wildfires to date (2026): 3,974 — vs. a 10-year average of 3,530 (+13%)
• Hectares burned to date: 3,318,583.8 — vs. a 10-year average of 2,688,260 (+23%)

Stage of control: 188 fires out of control, 553 out of control but monitored, 43 being held, 110 under control.

Why this is worth tracking

The season is running meaningfully above the 10-year average on both fire count and area burned — and it's not plateauing. This snapshot sits inside a broader narrative arc: smoke crossing into the US has already triggered a political flashpoint, with tariff threats and cross-border blame framing building in parallel with the actual fire data.

Logging this as a dated baseline lets us track two things at once going forward: whether the wildfire data itself keeps climbing relative to average, and whether the narrative response escalates faster or slower than the underlying numbers justify.

Next check: compare against the following week's CWFIS Wildfire Pulse release.

Update — July 24, 2026

Source: CWFIS Wildfire Pulse, data current as of 2026-07-25 01:52 UTC (reporting on July 24, 2026 conditions)

• Active wildfires: 803 (down from 894 on Jul 22)
• Wildfires reported today: 56
• Extinguished fires: 2,800
• Wildfires to date (2026): 3,603 — now essentially in line with the 10-year average of 3,636 (previously +13% above average)
• Hectares burned to date: 2,666,352.4 — now slightly below the 10-year average of 2,784,404 (previously +23% above average)

Stage of control: 178 fires out of control, 473 out of control but monitored, 43 being held, 109 under control.

What changed

Both headline metrics moved from meaningfully above the 10-year average to roughly at or slightly below it within two days — active fire count down about 10%, hectares burned to date down by over 650,000 hectares. This is a sharper reversal than a simple plateau; worth treating as a real inflection point rather than noise, though one more data point after this would help confirm the season has genuinely turned a corner rather than reflecting a reporting/methodology adjustment.

Next check: compare against the following week's CWFIS Wildfire Pulse release to confirm whether the season is actually easing or if this is a temporary dip.