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California Large Wildfire History

Since 1980, 2,299 wildfires of 1,000 acres or more have been mapped in California, 36 of them above 100,000 acres. The largest burned 501,082 ac; together they cover about 26,054,017 ac.

Fires by decade

'80
'90
'00
'10
'20

What starts the fires in California

Every wildfire incident on record has a cause code. Counts are of incidents, not acres — lightning fires are fewer but tend to grow far larger.

By broad cause
Undetermined72%6.0M ac
Unknown18%5.5M ac
Human5%1.6M ac
Natural5%5.0M ac
Specific cause, where recorded
Lightning977
Recreation429
Equipment / vehicle use398
Debris / open burning153
Arson / incendiary100
Firearms36
Natural (other)18
Fireworks5
Railroad1

Source: National Interagency Fire Center, WFIGS incident records (WFIGS incident records, roughly 2014 to present). A specific cause is recorded for only some incidents; “Undetermined” and “Unknown” are the agency's own categories.

Largest in California

Biscuit · 2002501,082 acRanch · 2018410,203 acRanch · 2018410,202 acRanch · 2018410,201 acRush · 2012315,512 acRush · 2012307,083 acThomas · 2017281,791 acThomas · 2017281,790 acCedar · 2003270,686 acRim · 2013256,916 ac

All mapped large fires

Tuolumne Wf1,763 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Tuolumne1,640 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Stage1,571 ac
2003 · perimeter dated July 6, 2003
Box1,569 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
1521,507 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Happy Camp1,482 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Paradise 21,297 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Paradise 21,297 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Barber1,267 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Adams Canyon Phase 11,239 ac
2003 · perimeter dated September 3, 2003
Caliente1,223 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Tejon1,199 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Parkhill1,197 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Secret1,195 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Bridge1,157 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
I51,121 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Chimney1,110 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mountain Center Burn1,061 ac
2003 · perimeter dated November 11, 2003
40 Fire1,057 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
401,057 ac
2003 · perimeter dated September 3, 2003
A-31,051 ac
2003 · perimeter dated July 4, 2003
Whiskey1,043 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Whiskey1,041 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Whitmore1,004 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Whit1,004 ac
2003 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Biscuit501,082 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mcnally149,475 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Pines61,691 ac
2002 · perimeter dated August 11, 2002
Williams38,119 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Cannon26,684 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Wolf21,641 ac
2002 · perimeter dated June 14, 2002
Curve20,871 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Copper Fire19,102 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Copper19,102 ac
2002 · perimeter dated June 12, 2002
Sudden7,503 ac
2002 · perimeter dated June 15, 2002
Blue Cut6,821 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Louisiana6,564 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Fuller6,433 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gavilan5,663 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Leona4,905 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019

Source: National Interagency Fire Center, Interagency Fire Perimeter History. Only fires with a mapped perimeter of 1,000 acres or more appear; the state is inferred from the responsible unit code. A record of past fires is not a forecast. See About the Data.