There Are 6 Megafires Burning Right Now In The US

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In what has rapidly become one of the busiest wildfire seasons in recent memory, fires continued to spread across the western United States and Alaska last week. The Dragon Bravo Fire in Grand Canyon National Park remains the largest active wildfire in the country, while several other megafires are blazing in the West.

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While the six current megafires – as well as the Gifford Fire in Santa Barbara County, California, which has been more than halved from its peak of 130,000 acres – are the largest wildfires of the year, they account for less than half of all wildfire activity in the United States. There are more than 140 active wildfires right now, collectively burning 1.6 million acres of land and sending dangerous smoke plumes to populated areas.

Altogether, there are more than 200 active wildfires nationwide, collectively burning well over a million acres. While many of these fires are relatively small, a handful of megafires — those exceeding 100,000 acres — account for the majority of total acreage burned. Dangerous smoke plumes from these fires are drifting into population centers, worsening air quality for millions of Americans. A closer look at the data reveals the largest fires burning in the United States right now.

To determine the largest fires burning in the United States right now, Climate Crisis 247 reviewed data on current wildfire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center. Active wildfires with less than 100% containment were ranked based on total acreage as of September 3, 2025.