List of California wildfires


California has dry, windy, and often hot weather conditions from spring through late autumn that can produce moderate to devastating wildfires. At times, these wildfires are fanned or made worse by strong, dry winds, known as Diablo winds when they occur in the northern part of the state and Santa Ana winds when they occur in the south. Wildfires in California are growing increasingly dangerous because of climate change and because more people are building in rural burn areas. United States taxpayers pay about US$3 billion a year to fight wildfires, and big fires can lead to billions of dollars in property losses.
More than 350,000 people in California live in towns sited completely within zones deemed to be at very high risk of fire. In total, more than 2.7 million people live in "very high fire hazard severity zones", which also include areas at lesser risk.
The following is a list of notable wildfires of various sizes that have occurred in California.

Largest wildfires

These are the 20 largest wildfires in California since 1932, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. List: .
Note: Burned area and position in the list are subject to change.
NameCountyAcresHectaresStart dateStructuresDeathsNotes
Mendocino ComplexMendocino, Lake,
Colusa, Glenn		2801The Ranch Fire by itself, at 410,203 acres as of, is the largest fire in California history. 1 firefighter died.-
ThomasVentura, Santa Barbara1,06323Fatalities attributed to the fire include 1 firefighter and 1 civilian directly, 21 deaths in later mudslides.-
CedarSan Diego2,82015-
RushLassen10This fire burned an additional in Nevada, for a total of.-
RimTuolumne1120-
ZacaSanta Barbara10-
CarrShasta, Trinity1,6048-
MatilijaVentura00-
WitchSan Diego1,6502-
Klamath Theater ComplexSiskiyou02-
Marble ConeMonterey00-
LagunaSan Diego3828-
Basin ComplexMonterey580-
DayVentura110-
StationLos Angeles2092-
CampButte18,80486-
RoughFresno40-
McNallyTulare170-
Stanislaus ComplexTuolumne281-
Big Bar ComplexTrinity00-

Deadliest wildfires

A list of the 20 deadliest wildfires, according to CAL FIRE, can be found at .
Note: Number of deaths and position in the list are subject to change.
NameCountyAcresHectaresStart dateStructuresDeathsNotes
CampButte18,8048651 identified from Paradise, 11 from Magalia, 7 from Concow, 1 from Chico, remaining not publicly identified as of February 2019-
Griffith ParkLos Angeles029Deaths were RFC workers fighting the fire-
TunnelAlameda2,90025-
TubbsNapa, Sonoma5,64322-
RattlesnakeGlenn015All deaths were firefighters trying to outrun the fire-
CedarSan Diego2,82015-
Loop FireLos Angeles012-
Hauser CreekSan Diego011-
InajaSan Diego011-
Iron Alps ComplexTrinity1010-
Redwood Valley ComplexMendocino5449-
CanyonLos Angeles08-
HarrisSan Diego5488-
CarrShasta, Trinity1,6048-
HaciendaLos Angeles06-
DeckerRiverside16-
OldSan Bernardino1,0036-
AtlasNapa, Solano7816-
LagunaSan Diego3825-
EsperanzaRiverside545-

Most destructive wildfires

A list of the 20 most destructive wildfires, according to CAL FIRE, can be found at: .
Note: Number of destroyed structures and position in the list are subject to change.
NameCountyAcresHectaresStart dateStructuresDeathsNotes
CampButte18,80486Town of Paradise destroyed-
TubbsNapa, Sonoma5,64322-
TunnelAlameda2,90025-
CedarSan Diego2,82015-
ValleyLake, Napa, Sonoma1,9554-
WitchSan Diego1,6506--
WoolseyVentura, Los Angeles1,6433-
CarrShasta, Trinity1,6048-
NunsSonoma1,3553-
ThomasVentura, Santa Barbara1,063232 Direct, 21 indirect deaths were caused by the Montecito mudslides-
OldSan Bernardino1,0036-
JonesShasta9541-
ButteAmador, Calaveras9212-
AtlasNapa, Solano7836-
PaintSanta Barbara6411-
FountainShasta6360-
SayreLos Angeles6040-
BerkeleyAlameda5840-
HarrisSan Diego5488-
Redwood Valley ComplexMendocino5469-

Pre-2000

Starting in 2001, the National Interagency Fire Center began keeping more accurate records on the total fire acreage burned in each state.

Yearly statistics

A 2015 study addressed whether the increase in fire risk in California is attributable to climate change.

Notable fires

NameCountyAcresHectaresStartContainedNotesRef

Areas of repeated ignition

In some parts of California, fires can recur in areas with histories of fires. In Oakland, for example, fires of various size and ignition occurred in 1923, 1931, 1933, 1937, 1946, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1980, 1990, 1991, 1995, 2002, and 2008. Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Los Angeles County are other examples. Orange and San Bernardino counties share a border that runs north to south through the Chino Hills State Park, with the park's landscape ranging from large green coastal sage scrub, grassland, and woodland, to areas of brown sparsely dense vegetation made drier by droughts or hot summers. The valley's grass and barren land can become easily susceptible to dry spells and drought, therefore making it a prime spot for brush fires and conflagrations, many of which have occurred since 1914. Hills and canyons have seen brush or wildfires in 1914, the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and into today.
On occasion, freak lightning strikes from thunderstorms may also spark wildfires in areas that have seen past ignition. Examples of this are the 1999 Megram Fire and the 2008 California wildfires.