Massachusetts Wildfire, Smoke, and Air Quality Map

Fire season and landscape

Spring brush fire season arrives with April wind and cured fuels. In the fall of 2024, deep drought drove an unusual run of October and November fires across the eastern part of the state. Summer air quality episodes mostly come from Canadian smoke, in addition to coastal ozone days.

October Mountain State Forest and the Berkshire hills anchor the west, the Quabbin Reservoir's protected watershed forest sits mid-state, and the southeast holds the sandy pine barrens shared with the Cape and the islands. Nor'easters and coastal flooding weigh on the hazard profile as much as fire, with hurricane history on the south-facing coast running back to 1938.

• The southeastern pine barrens carry fire in almost any dry stretch, and red flag warnings there tend to coincide with the state's busiest fire days.
• The fall 2024 fires developed under severe drought classifications that were visible on the drought layer weeks in advance.
• The smoke layer often shows Canadian plumes crossing the Berkshires hours before AQI readings change in Boston.