Average area burned per wildfire for each decade, 1924-2023

This chart shows a sudden increase in the area burned per fire during the last decade compared with the three previous decades going back to 1984. Presentation of the data in this form filters out the expected increase in the number of fires caused by lightening due to climate change (most fires in BC are caused by lightning). The huge increase in the area burned per wildfire in the last decade suggests that even if more fires are being ignited by lightning, other factors are at play in making individual fires, on average, much larger.