| River Fire | |
|---|---|
| Part of the August 2020 California lightning siege | |
 The River Fire smoke plume as seen from the beach at Aptos the day it started | |
| Date(s) |
|
| Statistics [1] | |
| Burned area | 48,088 acres (19,461 ha) |
| Impacts | |
| Non-fatal injuries | 4 |
| Structures destroyed | 13 |
The River Fire was a wildfire that broke out from a lightning storm early on August 16, 2020 in Monterey County, California, south of Salinas, near River Road and Mount Toro. [2] [3] Within its first day, it spread to 2,000 acres and was 10% contained; mandatory evacuations were ordered, while air and ground crews worked the fire. [4]
On August 17, the fire, three miles south of Salinas, spread to 2,800 acres and threatened 1,500 structures; four firefighters were injured. [5]
The fire had burned 4,070 acres by August 18, [3] and as of August 19, the fire had grown to over 10,000 acres. [6] By August 21, over 42,000 acres had burned and the fire was 12% contained. The nearby Carmel Fire was over 5,069 acres and five percent contained. [7]
On September 4, Cal Fire reported that both the River Fire and the Carmel Fire were 100% contained. The River Fire had burned 48,088 acres and the Carmel Fire had burned 6,905 acres; between them, they had destroyed 103 structures and damaged 20. [8]
When a strong atmospheric river winter storm came to the burned area in January, 2021, a mudslide occurred and damaged homes and barns near River Road, [9] and trapped several horses that were later rescued. [10]
