Wildfires spread across the Northern Hemisphere weeks ahead of schedule

16:00

By: Dakir Madiha

Wildfires spread across the Northern Hemisphere weeks ahead of schedule

An unusually early wildfire season has taken hold across the Northern Hemisphere, with active fires burning from the American Southwest to central Europe. Drought conditions, record-low snowpack, and abnormally high temperatures have combined to create dangerous fire weather well before the traditional summer peak.

In Arizona, the Hazen Fire ignited near Buckeye in Maricopa County on the afternoon of May 2 and had consumed approximately 980 acres by May 3 with zero containment. Around 90 homes face potential threat, State Route 85 was temporarily closed, and a large smoke plume spread across the greater Phoenix area. A separate brush fire near Fain Lake in Prescott Valley was contained on May 3 after crews halted its advance.

In Brandenburg, Germany, a forest fire broke out on May 1 on a former military training ground near Jüterbog, burning more than 30 hectares and becoming the largest wildfire of the season in that state. Unexploded ordnance buried in the soil has prevented direct attack, forcing firefighters to work from the perimeter using existing firebreaks.

Across North America, the scale of the crisis is already historic. As of May 1, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Preparedness Level 2, with 20 large uncontained fires burning and nearly 2,400 personnel deployed. More than 24,000 fires have scorched over 1.8 million acres since January 2026, surpassing the ten-year average for this point in the year. The Southern Region reached Preparedness Level 4, the highest currently recorded in the country, driven by ongoing incidents in Georgia and Florida. Florida alone has recorded more than 1,600 wildfires in the first months of 2026 amid the state's worst drought since 2001, putting it on track to exceed its full-year 2025 total of 3,100 fires. In North Carolina, the state forestry service lifted its statewide open-burning ban for 81 of 100 counties as of May 3 following recent rainfall, while 19 counties remain under restrictions.

In Utah, Governor Spencer Cox warned on May 1 that the state faces a particularly dangerous fire season. A total of 115 fires had already ignited in 2026, more than 84 percent of them human-caused. Historically low levels in rivers and lakes, combined with below-normal snowpack, prompted Cox to announce that a drought declaration is imminent. Seasonal outlooks from federal fire officials point to above-normal fire risk spreading across much of the West by June, with Arizona, Utah, and Colorado among the areas of greatest concern.

In British Columbia, authorities have warned that 2026 could mark a fourth consecutive difficult wildfire season. Snowpack in the interior stands at a 40-year low, and persistent drought has taken hold in the northeast. Alberta also entered an early high-danger period as mild temperatures and dry conditions dried out grasslands ahead of schedule. Canadian fire experts noted that while spring started relatively quietly, sustained drought and above-average summer temperatures could drive severe conditions by midsummer.