Mexican firefighters battled more than 8,000 wildfires in 2024, blazes that burned more than 1.67 million hectares (4.1 million acres) — a nearly 60% increase over the destruction caused by fires in 2023, according to Mexico’s National Forestry Commission (Conafor).
In its year-end report, Conafor also reported that the total area destroyed was the most recorded since it began keeping records in 1998, and the 8,002 fires were the sixth-highest total in the past 27 years. Additionally, Conafor reported that 18 firefighters died in the field in 2024.
In its report, Conafor attributed the dramatic increase in area destroyed to the effects of climate change, including extended drought, high temperatures and a disruption in normal rain patterns.
While presenting the report, Conafor manager César Robles explained that in January 2024, more than 80% of the country was experiencing drought.
“In drought conditions, the vegetation is much more prone to catch fire,” he said, according to the newspaper Milenio. “And even though it began to rain in mid-June [in Mexico], we were seeing much more intense fires, blazes that were more severe, more dangerous and more explosive.”
The Conafor report indicated that 95% of the fire damage affected grasses and shrubbery and only 5% impacted tree cover. Of the 1.67 million hectares affected, the newspaper El Sol de México reported that 41% of the damaged area will take more than five years to recover its vegetation.
Robles said Conafor expects more of the same in 2025, especially since the anomalies in precipitation will continue during the first three months of the year.
“We are on alert,” he said. “We are taking all due precautions and we have a very strong relationship with national civil protection units, as well as with Defensa [the Defense Ministry], Semar [the Naval Ministry], the National Water Commission and the National Meteorological Service.”
Robles identified March through June as particularly critical months for Conafor, during which much of the country is vulnerable to fires. He said July through November will be more critical for firefighters in the northeastern part of the country.
Conafor has 1,700 full-time firefighters on the payroll with another 1,7000 brigade members on part-time duty. Last year, Conafor registered 506,408 person/days — a unit of measurement that represents the amount of work a single person can complete in one working day — while fighting fires across the nation.
Last week, more than 50 Conafor personnel were sent to California to assist in fighting the devastating fires in Los Angeles.
State-by-state breakdown
Conafor provided details about the number of fires and the area damaged in each state in 2024. The 1,672,216 hectares destroyed last year easily surpassed the 1,047,493 hectares damaged in 2023, and tripled the median (about 585,000 hectares) of the past 27 years.
Conafor had never registered destruction of more than 1 million hectares before 2023.
The 10 states with the most area damaged in 2024 were:
- Guerrero: 113,972 hectares
- Chiapas: 41,267 hectares
- Oaxaca: 21,608 hectares
- Jalisco: 21,235 hectares
- Michoacán: 12,688 hectares
- Sinaloa: 9,237 hectares
- Colima: 5,445 hectares
- San Luis Potosí: 4,777 hectares
- Veracruz: 4,374 hectares
- Puebla: 4,043 hectares
There were 8,002 fires registered in 2024, far behind the 14,445 recorded in 1998, but nearly 400 more fires than in 2023.
The 10 states with the most fires in 2024:
- Jalisco: 211
- Chiapas: 143
- Guerrero: 111
- Mexico City: 110
- Morelos: 95
- Colima: 78
- Oaxaca: 74
- Michoacán: 70
- Hidalgo: 48
- Veracruz: 47
With reports from Milenio, Expreso, El Sol de México and Enfoque Noticias
