Cost of Wildfires
Wildfires that scorched Northwestern states in the summer and fall of 2017 have been exacerbated by the extreme drought conditions plaguing the West Coast, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.
Montana and California experienced some of the most severe events with damage to hundreds of homes and millions of acres of land. According to the NOAA, the total damage through September 2017 was an estimated $2 billion. The economic cost of the fatal October 2017 wildfires in Northern California is predicted to be at least $85 billion, the most expensive wildfire in U.S. history.
According to a 2015 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 50 percent of the Forest Service’s annual budget is now dedicated to wildfire management. This is a significant increase from 1995, when fighting fires made up 16 percent of the budget. And costs continue to escalate.
The 10 largest fires cost more than $320 million to fight in 2014, and the cost of fire suppression is expected to reach nearly $1.8 billion by 2025, when $2 of every $3 given to the Forest Service by Congress will be spent on fire programs.