The 2012 Washington wildfires were a series of 1,342 wildfires that burned 259,526 acres (1,050 km2) over the course of 2012. The fires primarily occurred in the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests during September and October 2012. A severe lightning storm on September 8 caused hundreds of fires across the east side of Cascade Range. Smoke caused hazardous air quality conditions in the cities of Ellensburg and Wenatchee, and was noticeable in Seattle. The cost of fighting the largest four fires was estimated to be $67.5 million.
The 2015 wildfire season was the largest in Washington state history, with more than one million acres burning across the state from June to September. As many as 3,000 firefighters including 800 Washington National Guard members were deployed to fight the fires. The 17th Field Artillery Brigade of the United States Army also deployed 200 soldiers from Joint Base Lewis–McChord to help fight the fires.
The Jolly Mountain fire was a wildfire in Wenatchee National Forest, Kittitas County, Washington, that began with lightning strikes August 11, 2017 and burned for over three months. Fires burned in the upper reaches of the Teanaway River a few miles east of Cle Elum Lake.
The 2017 Washington wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned over the course of 2017, a year that set weather records for heat and aridity in both Western Washington and Eastern Washington.
The 2018 Washington wildfire season officially began June 1, 2018. A statewide state of emergency was declared by Governor Jay Inslee on July 31.
The 2020 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2020. The season was a part of the 2020 Western United States wildfires. By September, wildfires had burned over 713,000 acres, 181 homes had been lost, and one death occurred as a result. The 2020 fire season saw more individual fires than in any other recorded year.
The Soledad Fire was a wildfire that burned 1,525 acres (617 ha) south of Agua Dulce and northeast of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County, California in the United States during the 2020 California wildfire season. The fire started on July 5, 2020, and caused the complete closure of State Route 14 in both directions throughout the day as the fire grew to 1,498 acres. The fire also at a point threatened over 4,795 structures, although only 9 homes were formally threatened by the direct fireline. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
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 2020 Washington Labor Day fires were part of the 2020 wildfires in the U.S. state of Washington. The Labor Day fires began on September 7, 2020, driven by high winds. Some of the fires were sparked by downed power lines. More than 330,000 acres (130,000 ha) burned across the state of Washington, a one-day total greater than any of the last 12 entire fire seasons, according to the governor's office, and larger than the state's largest single fire, the Carlton Complex Fire of 2014.
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 is the eighth-largest in California's history, and was 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 Cameron Peak fire was a wildfire that started near Chambers Lake, Colorado, 25 miles (40 km) east of Walden and 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Red Feather Lakes near Cameron Pass on August 13, 2020, and was declared 100% contained on December 2, 2020. The fire burnt 208,663 acres through the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in Larimer and Jackson Counties and Rocky Mountain National Park. At its peak, the fire forced the evacuation of over 6,000 residents in Estes Park, Chambers Lake, Rustic, Glacier View Meadows, Red Feather Lakes, Masonville, Glen Haven, Spring Canyon, various small communities along Highway 14, Stove Prairie Landing Road, as well as the Colorado State University Mountain Campus and had over 1,000 personnel fighting the fire. 469 structures were destroyed by the fire, including 220 outbuildings and 42 primary residences. The fire became the largest wildfire in Colorado history, surpassing the Pine Gulch Fire, which had set the same mark just seven weeks prior.
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 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2021. By late April, all of Eastern Washington had been classified by the United States Drought Monitor as "abnormally dry" with moderate to severe drought conditions. The state had more than 630 wildfires by the first week of July, on par with the state's record 2015 wildfire season.
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 2023 Washington wildfire season officially began in March 2023 in the US state of Washington.
The Swawilla Fire is a large actively burning wildfire in Ferry and Okanogan counties, located in the U.S. state of Washington. The fire has been burning since July 17, 2024, and is currently 60% contained. It is the sixth fire to burn more than 1,000 acres as part of the 2024 Washington wildfire season, and is the largest fire of the entire season, at 53,343 acres covered as of August 3.
