2019 California wildfires


The 2019 wildfire season was a fire season in California, United States., over 7,860 fires have been recorded according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, totaling an estimated of of burned land. Although the 2019 fire season had been relatively quiet in California through mid-September as compared to past years, October through December was still expected to have the greatest fire potential as the Diablo and Santa Ana winds pick up.
In late October, the Kincade Fire became the largest fire of the year, burning in Sonoma County by November 6.
Massive preemptive public safety power shutoff events have been controversial. Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric had preemptively shut off power to 800,000 electric customers to reduce the risk of wildfires by preventing electrical arcing in high winds from their above-ground power lines. While large areas were without power for days, people in fire danger areas had trouble getting information, and critical life support equipment would not work without backup power.

Early projections

Fire behavioral experts and climatologists have warned that heavy rains from months early in the year have produced an excess of vegetation that would become an abundance of dry fuel later in the year as the fire season gets underway. According to the US Forest Service and US Department of the Interior officials, early projections indicated that the fire season would possibly be worse than the year prior, stating that "if we're lucky, this year will simply be a challenging one." This assessment was written on the basis of noting that the state has recently been seeing consistently destructive fires more often than ever before.

Wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than, or produced significant structural damage or casualties.
NameCountyAcresStart dateContainment dateNotesRef
RefugeKern2,500May 7May 91 structure destroyed
BoulderSan Luis Obispo1,127June 5June 11
SandYolo2,512June 8June 177 structures destroyed, 2 injuries
West ButteSutter1,300June 8June 10
McMillanSan Luis Obispo1,764June 12June 14
LonoakMonterey2,546June 25June 26Downed PG&E power line was the cause
RockStanislaus2,422June 25June 27
CowInyo, Tulare1,975July 25October 11Caused by lightning strike
SpringsMono4,840July 26October 7Caused by lightning strike
TuckerModoc14,150July 28August 15Unintentionally caused by vehicular traffic along California State Route 139
W-1 McDonaldLassen1,020August 8August 11Caused by lightning strike
GainesMariposa1,300August 16August 20
MountainShasta600August 22August 2614 buildings destroyed, 7 damaged and 3 people injured
Long ValleyLassen2,438August 24August 27
R-1 RanchLassen3,380August 28September 5Caused by lightning strike
TenajaRiverside1,926September 4September 14
WalkerPlumas54,608September 4September 259 structures destroyed
TabooseInyo10,296September 4November 21Caused by lightning strike
LimeSiskiyou1,872September 4September 19Caused by lightning strike
MiddleTrinity1,339September 5October 5Caused by lightning strike
Red BankTehama8,838September 5September 13Caused by lightning strike; 2 buildings destroyed
SouthTehama5,332September 5October 11Caused by lightning strike
LoneModoc5,737September 5September 13Caused by lightning strike
SpringsMono4,840September 6September 23Caused by lightning strike
BriceburgMariposa5,563October 6October 241 structure destroyed
SandalwoodRiverside1,011October 10October 14Trash in a garbage truck caught fire and spread to nearby brush
74 structures destroyed, 16 structures damaged, 2 civilian fatalities
CaplesEl Dorado3,435October 10November 1Caused by a controlled burn that went out of control
SaddleridgeLos Angeles8,799October 10October 31Unconfirmed cause, but reported that high-voltage SCE transmission line malfunctioned near point of origin
25 structures destroyed, 88 structures damaged, 1 civilian fatality, 8 firefighter injuries
KincadeSonoma77,758October 23November 6Unconfirmed cause, but reported that high-voltage PG&E transmission line malfunctioned near point of origin
374 structures destroyed, 40 structures damaged, 0 reported deaths, 2 firefighters injured
TickLos Angeles4,615October 24October 3122 structures destroyed, 27 structures damaged
GettyLos Angeles745October 28November 6Caused by a tree branch that fell on a power line during high winds
12 homes destroyed, 5 homes damaged
EasyVentura1,806October 30November 2Threatened the area near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley and 3 buildings were destroyed
HillsideSan Bernardino200October 31November 146 homes destroyed, 18 homes damaged
MariaVentura9,999October 31November 5Brush fire broke out at around 6:15 p.m. October 31 on South Mountain in Santa Paula
RanchTehama2,534November 3November 153 injuries, acreage reduced from 3,768 due to better mapping
CaveSanta Barbara3,126November 25December 14acreage reduced from 4,330 due to better mapping

Other fires

Three people were injured during the Moose Fire. Two people were injured and four structures were destroyed during the Country Fire. Four people were injured during the Lopez Fire, and one during the Electra Fire. A small brush fire ignited in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County on October 21. The fire burned within a few hours, forcing the evacuation of 200 homes. Three firefighters suffered injuries while one civilian was treated for respiratory illness.