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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

Ackerson59,151 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Ackerson59,112 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Wild25,512 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mercy23,526 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Damon/Long23,380 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Rogge20,944 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Skyline20,568 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Marple19,861 ac
1996 · perimeter dated August 26, 1996
Marple Fire19,861 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Otay #32216,562 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Wolfskill Complex12,638 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Calabasas Fire12,513 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Calabasas12,189 ac
1996 · perimeter dated November 4, 1996
Grand10,950 ac
1996 · perimeter dated July 2, 1996
Cow Mountain Vmp10,414 ac
1996 · perimeter dated May 7, 1997
Bee #210,046 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Catnip10,030 ac
1996 · perimeter dated December 31, 1996
Harmony9,360 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Scott8,828 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Panoche Ii7,932 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
White Oak7,181 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown6,719 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Trimmer 26,148 ac
1996 · perimeter dated August 19, 1996
Lightning # 295,490 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Kaweah4,655 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Kaweah4,655 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Sur4,407 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gilbreth4,238 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Maddalena3,975 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown3,802 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Stumpfield3,710 ac
1996 · perimeter dated August 1, 1996
Big Arroyo3,497 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 21, 2021
Big Arroy3,497 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unnamed Fire3,458 ac
1996
Shade 1/43,457 ac
1996 · perimeter dated September 1, 1996
Honey3,388 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Canyon3,336 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lightning # 403,326 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hwy 413,198 ac
1996 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gates2,985 ac
1996 · 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.