NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information
The 2002 wildfire season began early and was the second largest in the past 50 years, after the year 2000. Nearly twice the 10-year average was burned and the total acreage destroyed in 2002 as of November 15th was about 7.1 million acres. Three states recorded their largest wildfires this century (Arizona, Colorado and Oregon), and 21 firefighters lost their lives while battling the fires.
Information courtesy of the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).