The Southwest Fire Season: 2025 Overview and 2026 Outlook

Southwest Fire Science Consortium

May 19, 2026 at 11am PT/2pm ET

The 2025 wildfire season in the Southwest featured a steady progression from early and mid-season incidents of limited duration into a set of larger, more complex fires that defined regional operations. Early-season fires established a year marked by frequent ignitions, active initial attack, and increasing demand on local and regional resources. By mid-summer, fire activity escalated with the emergence of several concurrent, high-complexity incidents. Together, these fires concentrated regional suppression resources and marked the peak of the 2025 fire season, underscoring the cumulative operational challenges posed by simultaneous large fires in fuel-rich landscapes.

This webinar from the Southwest Fire Science Consortium will provide a review of the 2025 Southwest fire season, including trends, especially impactful individual incidents, and takeaways from the fires - and from our tactics and response. The presenters will also offer a 2026 fire season outlook based on the most up-to-date forecast from the NOAA predictive services.

Presenters: Zander Evans, Executive Director with the Forest Stewards Guild; Andreas Wion, Forest and Fire Science Manager with the Forest Stewards Guild