By the Numbers: A Record Wildfire Season for the United States

The 2015 U.S. wildfire season has officially broken the bank as the costliest year in our nation's history.

The U.S. Forest Service told NBC News that more than $1.7 billion was spent to fight fires across the country in 2015, at least $40 million more than the previous record, set in 2002. That total includes only federal funds and does not take state or local funding into account, the report added.

In addition to the cost of fighting the fires, this season was also one of the most devastating on record in terms of area destroyed. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 9.8 million acres of American land were torched this year, the second-highest total for any year since records began in 1960.

(MORE: One Photo Says Everything About the Western Wildfire Battle)

The fires have also taken their human toll, killing seven firefighters in 2015, the NIFC added. While that's below the 15-year average of 18 deaths each year, the toll still shows the violent nature of these infernos.

Now, the pressure is on Congress to budget appropriately for the skyrocketing cost to fight fires. They've proposed an extra $600 million for firefighting next year, but the Los Angeles Times notes that even this proposed budget wouldn't have been enough in 2015, and as wildfire seasons continue to set records, they'll need more money than the year before, not less.

“The money’s helpful, but we very much need a long-term fix,” Robert Bonnie, an undersecretary of Agriculture who oversees the Forest Service, told the L.A. Times.

The fight will likely continue into early 2016 as lawmakers attempt to decide what's best for the Forest Service, but since wildfire seasons are nearly a year-round problem these days, it's likely that the flames will start up again before the 2016 budget is finalized.

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