VIDEO: Wildland firefighters across the Southwest are gearing up for what could be a very active fire season, officials said. In a quarterly report just released by the National Interagency Fire Center, "Heavy fine fuel loadings (think buffelgrass) will likely increase fire activity ... especially when associated with dry and windy periods." The busiest fire activity will likely begin in May, the report said, and continue through July. The National Interagency Fire Center's outlook for spring and summer suggests the potential for significant fires is below average for much of the country; however, increased fire danger is evident in Hawaii, Alaska and the desert Southwest. An increased threat of wildfires is expected in southern Arizona in May, extending into New Mexico, Nevada and Utah in June. Conditions are expected to improve in Arizona by mid to late July, officials said, as monsoon activity sets in and provides much needed moisture across the region. "We anticipate the severity of the fire season will not be the same level as last year," U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell recently told the Associated Press. "We still expect to have some areas that will be really active." "We're ready for it," Tidwell said. Nationally, nearly 16,000 square miles burned in the 2015 fire season. The Forest Service spent more than $1.7 billion fighting fires last year, with an additional $520 million approved by Congress to fight fires in 2016.