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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

Rush4,846 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Bouquet4,285 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Borel3,418 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mussolini3,218 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Croy3,007 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Stanza2,821 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Arrowhead2,579 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Birch2,549 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Green2,234 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Skyway2,142 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Davis2,118 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Cone2,007 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Wolf1,988 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Mateo1,882 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Wolf1,875 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Morgan Canyon Vmp1,781 ac
2002 · perimeter dated September 18, 2002
Plum1,762 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Troy1,558 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Sixteen1,514 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Black1,512 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Palisade1,498 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Palisade1,498 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Antonio1,481 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Copco Fire1,404 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Copco1,404 ac
2002 · perimeter dated June 20, 2002
Forks1,388 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Dyke-David-Talley Vmp1,312 ac
2002 · perimeter dated October 31, 2002
Highway 581,286 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Sage/Aliso1,261 ac
2002 · perimeter dated March 1, 2002
Sloan Rx1,261 ac
2002 · perimeter dated February 22, 2002
Stage1,160 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Garnet1,156 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Oasis Fire1,151 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Oasis1,151 ac
2002 · perimeter dated September 14, 2002
Vieux1,029 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Freeway Ii1,029 ac
2002 · perimeter dated September 3, 2002
Freeway Fire Ii1,029 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Pine1,024 ac
2002 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Blue34,219 ac
2001 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Trough24,927 ac
2001 · 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.