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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

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

Mountaineer1,271 ac
2018 · perimeter dated November 20, 2018
Patterson1,261 ac
2018 · perimeter dated May 18, 2018
Moffat1,254 ac
2018 · perimeter dated April 23, 2018
Butte1,238 ac
2018 · perimeter dated August 2, 2018
Dump1,220 ac
2018 · perimeter dated June 27, 2018
2018 Tnc Foothill Unit1,194 ac
2018 · perimeter dated June 13, 2018
North1,120 ac
2018 · perimeter dated September 9, 2018
Front1,013 ac
2018 · perimeter dated August 24, 2018
Thomas281,791 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Thomas281,790 ac
2017 · perimeter dated February 21, 2019
Oak91,125 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Eclipse Complex90,864 ac
2017 · perimeter dated December 30, 2017
Long Valley83,653 ac
2017 · perimeter dated August 31, 2017
Long Valley83,581 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Detwiler81,826 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Detwiler81,826 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 29, 2019
Wallow63,785 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Nuns56,556 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 29, 2019
Nuns55,798 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Atlas51,625 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Garza48,887 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Garza48,887 ac
2017 · perimeter dated February 3, 2020
Steele45,704 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Atlas42,349 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 29, 2019
Tubbs36,807 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 29, 2019
Tubbs36,702 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Pier36,619 ac
2017 · perimeter dated September 21, 2017
Pier36,619 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mendocino Lake Complex36,525 ac
2017 · perimeter dated December 30, 2017
Redwood Valley36,523 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Redwood36,523 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 29, 2019
Cove30,891 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Cove30,891 ac
2017 · perimeter dated February 6, 2019
Alamo28,834 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Alamo28,834 ac
2017 · perimeter dated February 3, 2020
Haypress21,318 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lion18,914 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
R-4 Parsnip18,602 ac
2017 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
R-4 Parsnip18,602 ac
2017 · perimeter dated May 25, 2018
Helena18,494 ac
2017 · 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.