The United States experiences approximately 70000 wildfires every year burning between 7 to 10 million acres of land across western and southeastern states annually. Wildfire seasons are getting longer starting earlier in spring and extending later into fall due to rising temperatures and prolonged drought conditions nationwide. California has experienced its most devastating wildfires in history during recent years including the Camp Fire in 2018 which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. The annual cost of wildfire damage suppression and recovery in America now exceeds 50 billion dollars straining federal state and local government budgets enormously. Climate change is the primary driver of worsening wildfires as higher temperatures drier conditions and reduced snowpack create perfect conditions for catastrophic fire events. Over 80000 communities across America are at significant risk from wildfires with millions of homes built in wildland urban interface areas vulnerable to destruction. Wildfire smoke has become a major public health crisis with smoke traveling thousands of miles and degrading air quality in cities far from actual fire locations. The 2020 wildfire season was particularly devastating with over 10 million acres burned across the western United States creating apocalyptic orange skies in major cities. Firefighting resources are increasingly strained with the US Forest Service spending over half its entire annual budget on fire suppression activities leaving less for prevention. Addressing the wildfire crisis requires better forest management prescribed burning community preparedness and ultimately reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change.