2019 California wildfires | |
---|---|
Statistics [1] | |
Total fires | 7,860 |
Total area | 259,823 acres (105,147 ha) |
Impacts | |
Deaths | 3 |
Non-fatal injuries | 22 |
Damage | US$163 million (suppression efforts) [2] |
Season | |
← 2018 2020 → |
The 2019 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California as part of the 2019 wildfire season. By the end of the year, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, 7,860 fires were recorded, totaling an estimated of 259,823 acres (105,147 hectares) of burned land. [1] These fires caused 22 injuries, 3 fatalities, and damaged or destroyed 732 structures. [3] The 2019 California fire season was less active than that of the two previous years (2017 and 2018), which set records for acreage, destructiveness, and deaths.
In late October, the Kincade Fire became the largest fire of the year, burning 77,758 acres (31,468 ha) in Sonoma County by November 6.
Massive preemptive public safety power shutoff events in 2019 were controversial. Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric 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. [4] [5] While large areas were without power for days, people in fire danger areas had trouble getting information, and life support equipment would not work without backup power. [6]
Fire behavioral experts and climatologists warned that heavy rains from months early in the year had produced an excess of vegetation that would become an abundance of dry fuel later in the year as the fire season gets underway. [7] 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. [8]
The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties:
Name | County | Acres | Start date | Containment date | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Refuge | Kern | 2,500 | May 7 | May 9 | 1 structure destroyed | [9] |
Boulder | San Luis Obispo | 1,127 | June 5 | June 5 | [10] [11] [12] | |
Sand | Yolo | 2,512 | June 8 | June 17 | 7 structures destroyed, 2 injuries | [13] [14] |
West Butte | Sutter | 1,300 | June 8 | June 10 | [15] [16] | |
McMillan | San Luis Obispo | 1,764 | June 12 | June 14 | [15] [17] | |
Lonoak | Monterey | 2,546 | June 25 | June 26 | Downed PG&E power line was the cause [18] | [19] |
Rock | Stanislaus | 2,422 | June 25 | June 27 | [20] | |
Cow | Inyo, Tulare | 1,975 | July 25 | October 11 | Caused by lightning strike | [21] |
Springs | Mono | 4,840 | July 26 | October 7 | Caused by lightning strike | [22] |
Tucker | Modoc | 14,150 | July 28 | August 15 | Unintentionally caused by vehicular traffic along California State Route 139 [23] [24] | [25] [26] |
W-1 McDonald | Lassen | 1,020 | August 8 | August 11 | Caused by lightning strike | [27] [28] |
Gaines | Mariposa | 1,300 | August 16 | August 20 | [29] | |
Mountain | Shasta | 600 | August 22 | August 26 | 14 buildings destroyed, 7 damaged and 3 people injured | [30] |
Long Valley | Lassen | 2,438 | August 24 | August 27 | [31] | |
R-1 Ranch | Lassen | 3,380 | August 28 | September 5 | Caused by lightning strike | [32] |
Tenaja | Riverside | 1,926 | September 4 | September 14 | [33] | |
Walker | Plumas | 54,608 | September 4 | September 25 | 9 structures destroyed | [34] |
Taboose | Inyo | 10,296 | September 4 | November 21 | Caused by lightning strike | [35] |
Lime | Siskiyou | 1,872 | September 4 | September 19 | Caused by lightning strike | [36] [37] |
Middle | Trinity | 1,339 | September 5 | October 5 | Caused by lightning strike | [38] |
Red Bank | Tehama | 8,838 | September 5 | September 13 | Caused by lightning strike; 2 buildings destroyed | [39] |
South | Tehama | 5,332 | September 5 | October 11 | Caused by lightning strike | [40] [41] |
Lone | Modoc | 5,737 | September 5 | September 13 | Caused by lightning strike | [42] [43] |
Springs | Mono | 4,840 | September 6 | September 23 | Caused by lightning strike | [44] [45] |
Briceburg | Mariposa | 5,563 | October 6 | October 24 | 1 structure destroyed | [46] [47] |
Sandalwood | Riverside | 1,011 | October 10 | October 14 | Trash in a garbage truck caught fire and spread to nearby brush 74 structures destroyed, 16 structures damaged, 2 civilian fatalities | [48] [49] |
Caples | El Dorado | 3,435 | October 10 | November 1 | Caused by a controlled burn that went out of control | [50] |
Saddleridge | Los Angeles | 8,799 | October 10 | October 31 | Unconfirmed 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 | [51] [52] |
Kincade | Sonoma | 77,758 | October 23 | November 6 | Caused by electrical transmission lines located northeast of Geyserville owned and operated by PG&E [53] 374 structures destroyed, 40 structures damaged, 0 reported deaths, 2 firefighters injured | [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] |
Tick | Los Angeles | 4,615 | October 24 | October 31 | 22 structures destroyed, 27 structures damaged | [59] |
Getty | Los Angeles | 745 | October 28 | November 6 | Caused by a tree branch that fell on a power line during high winds 12 homes destroyed, 5 homes damaged | [60] [61] [62] |
Easy | Ventura | 1,806 | October 30 | November 2 | Threatened the area near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley and 3 buildings were destroyed [63] | [64] [65] [66] |
Hillside | San Bernardino | 200 | October 31 | November 14 | 6 homes destroyed, 18 homes damaged | [67] |
Maria | Ventura | 9,999 | October 31 | November 5 | Brush fire broke out at around 6:15 p.m. October 31 on South Mountain in Santa Paula [68] | [69] |
Ranch | Tehama | 2,534 | November 3 | November 15 | 3 injuries, acreage reduced from 3,768 due to better mapping [70] [71] | [72] |
Cave | Santa Barbara | 3,126 | November 25 | December 14 | Caused by arson, [73] acreage reduced from 4,330 due to better mapping [74] [75] | [76] [77] [78] |
Three people were injured during the Moose Fire (August 12–17). [79] Two people were injured and four structures were destroyed during the Country Fire (September 3–6). [80] Four people were injured during the Lopez Fire (September 21–27), [81] and one during the Electra Fire (September 25). [82] A small brush fire ignited in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles County on October 21. The fire burned 42 acres (17 hectares) within a few hours, forcing the evacuation of 200 homes. [83] Three firefighters suffered injuries, while one civilian was treated for respiratory illness. [83] [84]
In the summer of 2013, there were several major wildfires in Colorado in the United States. During June and July, record high temperatures and dry conditions fueled the fires all across the state. By July 24, 570 structures had been destroyed and 2 people died. Below is a list of the major fires of the year.
In 2016, a total of 7,349 fires had burned an area 669,534 acres (2,709.51 km2) in California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Uno Peak Fire was a wildfire on the slopes of Lake Chelan, approximately 15 miles from Manson, Washington in the United States. The human caused fire was started on August 30, 2017. The fire burned a total of 8,726 acres (35 km2).
The Graham Fire was a wildfire four miles south of the Metolius River near Culver, Oregon. The fire was caused by a lightning strike and was first reported on June 21, 2018. The fire is one of 70 started over a two-day period of dry conditions and heavy winds in Central Oregon. The fire was contained on June 2,175 acres.
The Mendocino Complex Fire was a large complex of wildfires that burned in northern California for more than three months in 2018. It consisted of two wildfires, the River Fire and Ranch Fire, which burned in Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, and Glenn Counties in the U.S. State of California, with the Ranch Fire being California's single-largest recorded wildfire at the time until the Dixie Fire in 2021. The Ranch Fire burned eight miles northeast of Ukiah, and the River Fire burned six miles north of Hopland, to the south of the larger Ranch Fire. First reported on July 27, 2018, both fires burned a combined total of 459,123 acres (1,858 km2), before they were collectively 100% contained on September 18, though hotspots persisted until the complex was fully brought under control on January 4, 2019. The Ranch Fire alone burned 410,203 acres (1,660 km2), making it the largest wildfire in modern California history at the time until the August Complex fire that occurred in 2020. The Ranch Fire also surpassed the size of the 315,577-acre Rush Fire, which burned across California and Nevada, as well as the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889, which was previously believed to have been California's all-time largest wildfire. It also included the Redwood Valley Fire that claimed 8 lives.
The Delta Fire was a 2018 wildfire that burned near Lakehead, California, in the Shasta National Forest. The fire burned 63,311 acres (256 km2) and destroyed 20 structures, before it was 100% contained on October 7, 2018. The fire burned into the western flank of the nearby Hirz Fire on September 10, and also burned only a couple of miles away from the enormous Carr Fire, the seventh-most destructive fire in Californian history.
The 2020 California wildfire season, part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, was a record-setting year of wildfires in California. By the end of the year, 9,917 fires had burned 4,397,809 acres (1,779,730 ha), more than 4% of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history, though roughly equivalent to the pre-1800 levels which averaged around 4.4 million acres yearly and up to 12 million in peak years. California's August Complex fire has been described as the first "gigafire", burning over 1 million acres across seven counties, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fires destroyed over 10,000 structures and cost over $12.079 billion in damages, including over $10 billion in property damage and $2.079 billion in fire suppression costs. The intensity of the fire season has been attributed to a combination of more than a century of poor forest management and higher temperatures resulting from climate change.
The 2020 Utah wildfire season was a series of prominent wildfires throughout the state of Utah, lasting from June 1 through October 30, as defined by state law. Part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season, Utah saw record-breaking numbers of human-caused fires. The largest fire of the season, the East Fork Fire, burned an area of 89,568 acres. In total, the suppression costs for the fires amounted to at least $103 million.
The 2020 Loyalton Fire was a large wildfire in Lassen, Plumas and Sierra counties in California and Washoe County in Nevada. After it was ignited by lightning on August 14, 2020, the fire burned 47,029 acres (19,032 ha) in the Tahoe National Forest and the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest before it was fully contained on August 26. The Loyalton Fire was notable for generating three fire tornadoes on August 15, necessitating first-of-their-kind warnings by the National Weather Service.
The August 2020 California lightning wildfires were a series of 650 wildfires that ignited across Northern California in mid-August 2020, due to a siege of dry lightning from rare, massive summer thunderstorms, which were caused by an unusual combination of very hot, dry air at the surface, dry fuels, and advection of moisture from the remains of Tropical Storm Fausto northward into the Bay Area. These fires burned between 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km2) to 2,100,000 acres (8,500 km2) within a 2–3 week period. The August 2020 lightning fires included three enormous wildfires: the SCU Lightning Complex, the August Complex, and the LNU Lightning Complex. On September 10, 2020, the August Complex set a record for the single-largest wildfire in the modern history of California, reaching a total area burned of 471,185 acres (1,907 km2). On September 11, the August Complex merged with the Elkhorn Fire, another massive wildfire of 255,039 acres (1,032 km2), turning the August Complex into a monster wildfire of 746,607 acres (3,021 km2).
The North Complex Fire was a massive wildfire complex that burned in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California in the counties of Plumas and Butte. 21 fires were started by lightning on August 17, 2020; by September 5, all the individual fires had been put out with the exception of the Claremont and Bear Fires, which merged on that date, and the Sheep Fire, which was then designated a separate incident. On September 8, strong winds caused the Bear/Claremont Fire to explode in size, rapidly spreading to the southwest. On September 8, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls were immediately evacuated at 3:15 p.m. PDT with no prior warning, By September 9, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls had been leveled, with few homes left standing. The fire threatened the city of Oroville, before its westward spread was stopped. The fire killed 16 people and injured more than 100. Among the 16 fatalities was a 16-year-old boy. The complex burned an estimated 318,935 acres (129,068 ha), and was 100% contained on December 3. The fire was managed by the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with Cal Fire, with the primary incident base in Quincy. The North Complex Fire was the sixth-largest in California's modern history, and the deadliest fire in the 2020 California wildfire season.
The Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires in 2020. Severe August thunderstorms ignited numerous wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, followed in early September by additional ignitions across the West Coast. Fanned by strong, gusty winds and fueled by hot, dry terrains, many of the fires exploded and coalesced into record-breaking megafires, burning more than 10.2 million acres of land, mobilizing tens of thousands of firefighters, razing over ten thousand buildings, and killing at least 37 people. The fires caused over $19.884 billion in damages, including $16.5 billion in property damage and $3.384 billion in fire suppression costs. Climate change and poor forest management practices contributed to the severity of the wildfires.
The 2020 Colorado wildfire season was a series of significant wildfires that burned throughout the U.S. state of Colorado as part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season. With a total of 665,454 acres (269,300 ha) burned, and the 3 largest fires in state history, it is Colorado's largest wildfire season on record.
The 2020 Lassen County wildfire season included seven large wildfires that burned entirely or in part in Lassen County. A total of 203,296 acres (82,271 ha) of land was burned in Lassen County, making it one of the larger clusters of fires in the 2020 California wildfire season.
The 2021 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California. By the end of 2021 a total of 8,835 fires were recorded, burning 2,568,948 acres (1,039,616 ha) across the state. Approximately 3,629 structures were damaged or destroyed by the wildfires, and at least seven firefighters and two civilians were injured.
The 2021 Arizona wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the state of Arizona, United States. Wildfires across the state burned 524,428 acres (212,228 ha) of land in at least 1,773 fires throughout the state, fueled in part by a drought, hot temperatures, and thunderstorms producing dry lightning. At one point in late June, over 20 active wildfires were burning across the state.
The 2022 Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire was the largest and most destructive wildfire in the history of the U.S. state of New Mexico. Burning 341,471 acres between early April and late June in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the fire was the most significant of the record-breaking 2022 New Mexico wildfire season as well as the largest wildfire of 2022 in the contiguous United States. The fire destroyed at least 903 structures, including several hundred homes, and damaged 85 more, while threatening more than 12,000 other structures in the region.
The 2023 California wildfire season is a series of significant wildfires that burned in the U.S. state of California during the calendar year. According to statistics published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a total of 7,127 fires burned a total of 324,917 acres. This was below the state's five-year average of 1,722,059 acres (696,893 ha) burned during the same period. The 2023 fire season followed the 2022 season, during which the number of fires and the resulting burned acreage were both below average. Four fatalities were reported during the 2023 fire season.
Cal Fire investigators determined the Sonoma County wildfire that destroyed 374 homes and structures was traced to PG&E equipment.
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