State officials are bracing for what’s expected to be an above-average wildfire season that’s just getting underway.
In a briefing Wednesday, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo and wildfire officials presented forecasts and figures as the American West looks toward a dry summer. Snowpack throughout the region has largely failed to deliver, contributing to drought and more days of fire weather during the peak season from May to October.
“With warmer temperatures predicted throughout that season, our season will be longer and our peak fire season more intense,” said Ryan Shane, Nevada’s state forester and firewarden, in an interview. “Above-normal fire potential means a lot of fire, typically.”
According to outlook maps released by the National Interagency Fire Center, some parts of rural Southern Nevada could experience wildfires in June. However, wildfire risk is widespread across almost all of Northern Nevada in July and August.
Agencies merged for efficiency
This will be the first season helmed by the nation’s new federal agency, the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, which consolidated firefighting efforts of the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.
It does not yet include the firefighting arm of the Forest Service, which broadly includes about two-thirds of the nation’s firefighters, though the Trump administration has indicated it would like Congress to further merge the agencies.
Gwen Sanchez, acting deputy director for fire and aviation at the Forest Service, said Wednesday that the larger mission those agencies once shared hasn’t changed.
“It’s going to be business as usual,” Sanchez said. “We’re still going to be able to provide the same service; we’re still going to be working with our local, state and federal partners across the entire state, really focusing on the mission of putting fire out and making sure that we’re maintaining the coordination that we’ve had every year prior.”
State officials are looking at the change closely, Shane said, but he believes on-the-ground firefighting capacity won’t be affected based on what the federal government has communicated.
“We share the public’s concern,” Shane said. “However, the information that’s being provided is reducing that concern and helping provide clarity for the upcoming season and their ability to respond effectively.”
How last season fared
During the briefing, Shane said last year brought 579 fire starts throughout the state, a little more than half of which were human-caused. About 452,500 acres burned in Nevada in 2025 — more than the entire acreage of the Las Vegas Valley.
That’s an active fire year, and Shane said officials expect 2026 to deliver a similar fate in the face of what are supposed to be extreme drought conditions. On Wednesday, the U.S. Drought Monitor had declared all of Nevada under at least the most minor classification of drought.
“Water sources for suppression in rural areas, particularly, and in high country may not be available,” Shane said. “Wetter areas like meadows and riparian areas that naturally check fire may be more combustible this year and won’t retard the fire the same way.”
Nevada’s public lands are under a fire prevention order from May until October unless it is rescinded earlier, said Jennifer Diamond, a fire prevention mitigation specialist with the newly condensed U.S. Wildland Fire Service.
All season long, that means Nevadans should not be target shooting, igniting fireworks or any explosive or using steel ammunition in a firearm, Diamond said.
“A little spark with a little bit of wind is all it takes around here in Nevada,” Diamond said.
Cheatgrass — one of the main fuel sources for wildfire — can catch fire above 450 degrees, and a bullet fragment can heat up to 1,400 degrees once it’s discharged, she added.
“If you see that it’s going to be a windy, hot day, don’t take that chance to be held responsible for a wildfire,” Diamond said. “You could be held civilly liable and criminally liable.”
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
