SCU Lightning Complex in Stanislaus, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin counties, August 2020: 396,625 acres burned, 225 structures destroyed, 0 deaths.Mendocino Complex in Colusa, Lake, Mendocino, and Glenn counties, July 2018: 459,123 acres burned, 280 structures destroyed, 1 death.Dixie in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama counties, July 2021: 963,309 acres burned, 1,311 structures destroyed, 1 death.August Complex in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn, Lake, and Colusa counties, August 2020: 1,032,648 acres burned, 935 structures destroyed, 1 death.3 Top 20 Largest California Wildfiresīelow are the top 20 largest California wildfires so far. The most notable fire that took place during this early part of the 20 th century was the Matilija Fire, which burned approximately 220,000 acres in Ventura County. The conditions were just right for an intense and destructive fire.Ĭalifornia’s official fire records, however, do not start until 1932. The wildfire, which was human-made, was preceded by a severe drought coupled with high-speed winds that further dried out the land. However, farmers’ crops and thousands of sheep were reportedly destroyed. There were no records of any human lives lost during the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889. 1 Before 2018, this was the largest wildfire in the state’s history in terms of acreage burned. It burned around 300,000 acres in parts of Orange County, San Diego County, and Riverside County. The earliest known wildfire in California history was the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889. The Earliest Records of Fire in California Many of the most dangerous and destructive fires in California have happened within the last several years due to climate change. In this article, we will take you through the earliest records of fire in the state all the way up to the present day, where we take a peek into California’s possible future. Knowing the history of wildfires in California is important because it helps us to prepare for what may be next. Perhaps worst of all, most of these wildfires were caused by human activity, which means they could have been prevented. They have destroyed millions of acres of land, burned down hundreds of thousands of structures, and caused the deaths of humans, animals, and plants. “But it's not something we can change in a year.Explore the history of California wildfires with details on the top 20 largest, most deadly, and most destructive fires, as well as interesting stats and figures.Ĭalifornia has a long and intense history with wildfire, with several in the past decade setting records for the largest, most deadly, and most destructive fires in the history of the United States as a whole. “We're not doomed to endure this,' said Collins of Berkeley Forests.

Without greater investment in prevention and systematic changes to combat the effects of climate change, experts say California almost certainly has more record-setting fire seasons in store. “We end up having to hoard all of the money that is intended for fire prevention, because we’re afraid we’re going to need it to actually fight fires.”

“We have to keep borrowing from funds that are intended for forest management,” said Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue in a message to Congress in 2017. Spending on suppression has leapt to more than half of the agency’s budget, up from 15% a few years before. Those costs could balloon this year, as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus have caused agencies to adopt a more costly and aggressive firefighting strategy.įorest Service scientists have long advocated for spending more on fire prevention, including vegetation clearing and prescribed burns, cautioning that an approach focused mainly on suppression will not work.

Map of fires in california 2017