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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

Panoche1,094 ac
1999 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Jellys 21,040 ac
1999 · perimeter dated August 23, 1999
Edna28,136 ac
1998 · perimeter dated October 5, 1998
Piru Incident12,613 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown11,141 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Refuge9,675 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown7,345 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown6,284 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Middle5,993 ac
1998 · perimeter dated September 20, 1998
Juniper5,977 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mercy4,958 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Breck4,472 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Ogilvy4,029 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown3,617 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Tom3,412 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Jalama3,365 ac
1998 · perimeter dated October 6, 1998
Stonewall2,800 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Stonewall2,795 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
North Crowder2,693 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Aera2,480 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Weirick2,429 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Chariot2,188 ac
1998 · perimeter dated July 1, 1998
Taylor2,056 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Powerhouse1,996 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Breckenridge1,919 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown1,584 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Greenridge #61,388 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown1,357 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Beale Assist1,277 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Yankee1,241 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Summit1,123 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Country1,112 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Alamo Arm1,107 ac
1998
Unknown1,068 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Manton #31,060 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
580 #61,001 ac
1998 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Logan49,491 ac
1997 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hopper24,797 ac
1997 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Narrows18,160 ac
1997 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Choctaw10,522 ac
1997 · 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.