This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: As temperatures rise and development expands, the number of homes and other structures damaged or destroyed by wildfires across the U.S. is on pace to triple by midcentury, my colleagues and I found in a study just published. The 2026 wildfire season has been a sharp reminder of that risk and why making homes and properties less vulnerable to wildfires is increasingly crucial.
Fortunately, strategies to lower the risk of losing a home to wildfire don't have to be overly expensive. The 2026 wildfire season began with historically low mountain snowpack, early snowmelt and exceptional warmth across much of the West. Even before the nation's hottest summer on record intensified drought and dried vegetation, fires were breaking out.
Colorado's Aspen Acres Fire destroyed hundreds of structures in June. Four firefighters died from injuries suffered when the fast-moving Knowles Fire overtook them near the Colorado–Utah border in July. In August, wind-driven fires swept into neighborhoods in Spokane, Washington, damaging more than 800 homes and forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate.
In Colorado, the summer monsoon season brought rainfall, helping firefighters gain ground. Across the Rocky Mountain region, lightning continued to start fires, but rain helped keep many fires small despite above-average temperatures. Despite this reprieve, Colorado fires had burned more than 318,000 acres (128,700 hectares) by late October, nearly twice the annual average since 2000.
Nationally, the total area burned was also well above average. The U.S. spent 48 consecutive days at Preparedness Level 5—the highest level, indicating that firefighting resources were stretched nationally—compared with a 10-year average of 25 days annually. Fire is a natural and often beneficial part of many ecosystems, shaping vegetation and supporting biodiversity.
However, a century of fire suppression has allowed dry vegetation to accumulate in forests that historically burned frequently. Rising temperatures caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels have increased the rate at which the atmosphere pulls moisture from the land, drying soils and vegetation. Researchers estimate that this drying nearly doubled the area burned in western U.S. forests between 1984 and 2015 compared with what would have burned without human-caused climate change.
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