The 2009 California wildfires were a series of 9,159 wildfires that were active in the US state of California, during the year 2009. The fires burned more than 422,147 acres of land from early February through late November, due to Red Flag conditions, destroying hundreds of structures, injuring 134 people, and killing four. The wildfires also caused at least US$134.48 million in damage. Although the fires burned many different regions of California in August, the month was especially notable for several very large fires which burned in Southern California, despite being outside of the normal fire season for that region.
The Bully Fire was a wildfire in Shasta County.
The Rye Fire was a wildfire that burned in Santa Clarita, California, in the United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The fire threatened over 5,000 structures, including Six Flags Magic Mountain, threatened the city of Santa Clarita and impacted traffic on Interstate 5. The Rye Fire burned a total of 6,049 acres (24.48 km2), before it was fully contained on December 12. The fire destroyed six buildings, including minor structures located at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center.
Red Bank is an agricultural district in Tehama County, in the U.S. state of California. The district and nearby Red Bank Creek both take their names from Rancho Barranca Colorado. The red soil in question was said to be on the north bank of the creek. Red Bank was later the name of a post office in the district, previously named Eby, and of a school in the district.
The Lane Fire was a wildfire in Paynes Creek, California in the United States. The fire started on June 23, 2018, and burned a total of 3,716 acres (15 km2), before it was contained on July 4. During its height, the fire threatened 200 structures.
The Pawnee Fire was a large wildfire that burned in Spring Valley in Lake County, California, in the United States. The fire started on June 23, 2018, and quickly expanded overnight, destroying 12 structures, and causing the evacuation of the entire Spring Valley area. The fire destroyed 22 structures, damaged six structures, and burned a total of 15,185 acres (61 km2) before it was fully contained on July 8, 2018.
The County Fire was a wildfire east of Lake Berryessa in Yolo County and Napa County, California in the United States. The fire, first reported on June 30, 2018, in Rumsey Canyon in the community of Guinda, and was contained on July 17, 2018 after burning 90,288 acres. The fire caused mandatory evacuations along Highway 128, County Road 23, and areas around Lake Berryessa, including Monticello Dam. The fire destroyed 20 structures, damaged three, and caused one injury. The fire was started by an improperly installed electric fence for livestock.
The Carr Fire was a large wildfire that burned in Shasta and Trinity Counties in California, United States. The fire burned 229,651 acres, before it was 100% contained late on August 30, 2018. The Carr Fire destroyed at least 1,604 structures while damaging 277 others, becoming at the time the sixth-most destructive fire in California history, as well as the thirteenth-largest wildfire recorded in modern California history. The Carr Fire cost over $1.659 billion in damages, including $1.5 billion in insured losses and more than $158.7 million in suppression costs. The fire destroyed multiple towns around Whiskeytown Lake. At its height, the fire engaged as many as 4,766 personnel from multiple agencies. The fire was reported on the afternoon of July 23, 2018, at the intersection of Highway 299 and Carr Powerhouse Road, in the Whiskeytown district of the Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area. Coincidental to the name of the incident, the fire was started when a flat tire on a vehicle caused the wheel's rim to scrape against the asphalt, creating sparks that set off the fire.
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 Tenaja Fire was a wildfire in the rural community of La Cresta southwest of Murrieta in Riverside County, California, United States, located 80 miles from Los Angeles. The fire broke out on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 and ballooned to 1,926 acres (8 km2) over the course of two days. The blaze, dubbed the Tenaja fire after igniting along Tenaja Road and Clinton Keith Road in La Cresta, forced the evacuation of over 1,200 people and lead to the closure of multiple school districts in the Murrieta, Perris and Lake Elsinore area due to the poor air quality. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation although several sources cited the possibility of lightning being the direct cause. Two structures were damaged as a result of the fire and one firefighter suffered minor injuries. The fire was contained on September 14 and had burned 1,926 acres (779 ha).
The South Fire was a wildfire that burned on the southeast side of Tomhead Mountain in Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Tehama County, California in the United States. The fire was started by a lightning strike, making it one of 26 reported fires in the area due to thunderstorm. On October 17, the fire had burned 5,332 acres (2,158 ha) and was 75 percent contained. Select trails and roads in the fire area were closed.
The Apple Fire was a wildfire that burned during the 2020 California wildfire season in Cherry Valley south of Oak Glen and north of Beaumont and Banning in Riverside County, California in the United States. The fire ignited on Friday, July 31, 2020 as three separate smaller blazes within the rural canyons along Oak Glen Road before merging and rapidly expanded to 1,900 acres (769 ha) and destroyed at least one home and two outbuildings in the Cherry Valley area. It now covers at least 33,424 acres (13,526 ha) and created "a plume of smoke so massive that it generated its own winds." The fire was sparked by a diesel-burning vehicle that emitted burning carbon. The fire was named after one of the roadways close to the ignition site, which is named Apple Tree Lane.
The August Complex was a massive wildfire that burned in the Coast Range of Northern California, in Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity, and Shasta Counties. The complex originated as 38 separate fires started by lightning strikes on August 16–17, 2020. Four of the largest fires, the Doe, Tatham, Glade, and Hull fires, had burned together by August 30. On September 9, the Doe Fire, the main fire of the August Complex, surpassed the 2018 Mendocino Complex to become both the single-largest wildfire and the largest fire complex in recorded California history. On September 10, the combined Doe Fire also merged with the Elkhorn Fire and the Hopkins Fire, growing substantially in size. By the time it was extinguished on November 12, the August Complex fire had burned a total of 1,032,648 acres (417,898 ha), or 1,614 square miles (4,180 km2), about 1% of California's 100 million acres of land, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.
The Zogg Fire was a wildfire that burned 56,338 acres (22,799 ha) in southwestern Shasta County and northwestern Tehama County, which are both in California, in the United States, as part of the severe 2020 California wildfire season. The fire was first reported on September 27, 2020 and was not fully contained until October 13, 2020, by which time it had destroyed much of the communities of Igo and Ono, killing four people and destroying 204 buildings.
The Red Salmon Complex was a wildfire that burned 144,698 acres (58,557 ha) in Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou County in Northern California during the 2020 California wildfire season. On July 27, lightning strikes in the Trinity Alps Wilderness started two fires, the Salmon Fire and the Red Fire, which eventually merged. As the fire grew, hazardous smoke levels surrounded Forks of Salmon, Orleans, Yreka, and Weed.
The Tennant Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County, California, in the United States as part of the 2021 California wildfire season. The fire was first reported just east of Highway 97, three miles northwest of Bray, California on June 28, 2021. The fire was contained on July 12, 2021. The fire burned 10,580 acres (4,282 ha), destroyed five structures, and caused evacuations in Macdoel, California. The cause remains under investigation. The Tennant Fire was one of three fires burning at the same time in the Lake Shasta region, the others being the Lava Fire and the Salt Fire.
The McFarland Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest north of Wildwood in Trinity County, Shasta County, and Tehama County, California in the United States. Started by a lightning strike, the fire was first reported on July 29, 2021 on McFarland Ridge south of Highway 36. As of September 16, 2021, the fire had burned 122,653 acres (49,636 ha) and destroyed 46 structures.
The Antelope Fire was a wildfire that burned in the Klamath National Forest, the Modoc National Forest, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and in Lava Beds National Monument in Siskiyou County, California, in the United States. The fire was started by a lightning strike and was first reported on August 1, 2021. As of October 15, the fire had burned 145,632 acres (58,935 ha).
The Fawn Fire was a destructive wildfire near in Shasta County, California, in the fall of 2021. Caused by a suspected act of arson in the evening of September 22, the fire began in mountains to the northeast of Redding and was driven by high winds the following day south and west into wildland-urban interface (WUI) neighborhoods. The fire ultimately destroyed 185 structures and damaged 26. Three firefighters engaged in suppression of the fire were injured, but there were no recorded civilian injuries or fatalities. The fire cost more than $25 million to suppress and burned 8,578 acres before being fully contained on October 2. A Palo Alto woman was arrested the day of its ignition and charged with starting the fire. As of 2022, legal proceedings were ongoing.
