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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

Lightning #84 (Stent)1,006 ac
1988 · perimeter dated June 26, 1988
King Titus68,072 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Mendenhall65,468 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Yellow51,060 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Larson48,087 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Paper45,020 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Plumas Nf #531 (Clark)39,921 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hamm33,144 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Fort/Copper30,975 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lost22,781 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Ten Bald18,355 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Lake18,234 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hotelling16,647 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Fouts16,363 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Cold16,146 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Palomar15,582 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Glasgow13,864 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Flume12,617 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Fay12,153 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
East11,474 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Usfs #35 Shf (Bally)11,095 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Travis11,042 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Ruby10,093 ac
1987 · perimeter dated September 20, 1987
Ruby Fire10,093 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Indian9,243 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
China8,909 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Thompson8,909 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Saint Claire8,833 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Clavey 87 Complex8,741 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Strause8,627 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gulch8,276 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Slu-7307,733 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Silverado7,693 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Gulch6,584 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Hasloe6,524 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Unknown6,350 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Peanut6,266 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Slater5,554 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Bear4,955 ac
1987 · perimeter dated January 2, 2019
Calf4,929 ac
1987 · 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.