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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

Turtle3,396 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Bradley Incident3,332 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Shockey3,285 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mixing3,264 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
High3,085 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Rumsey2,995 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Division2,981 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lake22,841 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hiram2,751 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Richbar Complex2,643 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lookout2,615 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Bloomer2,610 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Canyon #42,580 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Eleanor2,574 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Eleanor2,574 ac
1999 · perimeter dated March 26, 2019
Holser Incident2,526 ac
1999 · perimeter dated July 17, 1999
Elloit2,465 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gloria2,233 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lost Bear2,145 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lunch2,041 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Sheep #21,967 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lowden1,946 ac
1999 · perimeter dated July 2, 1999
Juniper1,906 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Juniper1,906 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Bean1,785 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Romero1,777 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Zegregen1,767 ac
1999 · perimeter dated August 17, 1999
Reptile1,668 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Pine1,618 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
South1,572 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Devils Gap1,480 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Proctor1,460 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Red1,455 ac
1999 · perimeter dated June 22, 1999
Bell West1,441 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Pg&E #221,407 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Spalding1,228 ac
1999 · perimeter dated October 29, 1999
Modesto Energy #21,200 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Malech1,200 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Watts1,185 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
East1,148 ac
1999 · 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.