U.S. nears costliest wildfire season on record

The 2015 wildfire season is not only setting records for acres burned, it's also nearing the costliest on record.

With $1.23 billion spent so far this year to fight the blazes, the U.S. Forest Service is approaching its all-time record for firefighting costs of $1.65 billion, set in fiscal year 2002 (adjusted for inflation).

Just last week, the Forest Service spent a record $243 million battling forest fires around the country, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

“This year’s fire season has been tragic, with the loss of seven firefighters in the line of duty," Vilsack said in an e-mail to USA TODAY. "It has also been historic, with a record high 52% of the Forest Service’s budget dedicated to fighting wildfire, compared to just 16% in 1995.

"If current conditions continue, we anticipate spending an average of $200 million per week on fire suppression," he said.

Another few weeks of costs in that range and the record for costliest wildfire season will be set. The fire season is projected to run into November, according to the Forest Service.

Over the past 10 years, the Forest Service has spent $1.13 billion on average each year to fight wildfires. That amount does not include local or state costs to fight fires. For instance, California spends over a quarter of a billion dollars each year to fight fires and has already spent more than $205 million just since July 1, according to CalFire.

Nor does it include other federal agency firefighting costs. Agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also chip in, though the Forest Service contributes the most.

Because of the cost of fighting fires, the Forest Service has been forced to tap other funds, such as forest-thinning projects, in order to keep up with the massive blazes, according to a report released by the agency in August.

The Wildfire Disaster Funding Act, now slowing making its way through Congress, would provide a fiscally responsible approach to treat wildfires more like other natural disasters, according to the Forest Service.

"Every day that Congress waits to pass the Wildfire Disaster Funding Act is one more day that the agency is forced to rob other programs that help prevent future fires to pay for the fires that are burning today," Vilsack said.

Due primarily to gigantic fires in Alaska, the U.S. is now approaching 9 million acres burned across the country, the National Interagency Fire Center said. That is an area larger than the state of Maryland. Only twice before has the nation topped the 9 million acre mark — in 2006 and 2007.

One state that's been hit particularly hard is Washington: With about a third of a million acres burned, the state's Okanogan fire is now the single largest fire in its history.