Below, you'll find a list of the 15-largest fires on record in California. Six of the 10-largest wildfires on record in California have burned in the last two years.
Each fire includes the cause of the fire, date, location, acres burned, number of buildings damaged and fatalities. The data was compiled by Cal Fire and does not include fires before 1932, when less reliable records were available.
The list includes all fires in California, regardless of whether they were under local, state or federal agencies' responsibility.
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1. August Complex
Acres: 1,032,648
Cause: Under Investigation
Date: August 2020
Location: Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn, Lake and Colusa counties
Structures: 935
Fatalities: 1
2. Dixie Fire (Active)
Acres: 963,276
Cause: Under Investigation
Date: July 2021
Location: Butte, Plumas, Lassen, & Tehama counties
Structures: 1,225
Fatalities: 0
3. Mendocino Complex
Acres: 459,123
Cause: Under Investigation
Date: July 2018
Location: Colusa, Lake, Mendocino and Glenn counties
Structures: 280
Fatalities: 1
4. SCU Lightning Complex
Acres: 396,624
Cause: Under Investigation, possibly lightning
Date: August 2020
Location: Stanislaus, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin counties
Structures: 222
Fatalities: None
5. Creek Fire
Cause: Under investigation
Date: September 2020
Location: Fresno and Madera counties
Acres: 379,893
Structures: 856
Fatalities: None
6. LNU Lightning Complex
Cause: Under investigation, possibly lightning
Date: August 2020
Location: Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Yolo and Solano counties
Acres: 363,220
Structures: 1,491
Fatalities: 6
7. North Complex
Cause: Under investigation, possibly lightning
Date: August 2020
Location: Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties
Acres: 318,935
Structures: 2,352
Fatalities: 15
8. Thomas
Cause: Power lines
Date: December 2017
Location: Ventura, Santa Barbara counties
Acres: 281,893
Structures: 1,063
Fatalities: 2
9. Cedar
Cause: Human Related
Date: October 2003
Location: San Diego County
Acres: 273,246
Structures: 2,820
Fatalities: 15
10. Rush
Cause: Lightning
Date: August 2012
Location: Lassen County
Acres: 271,911 California/43,666 Nevada
Structures: None
Fatalities: None
11. Rim
Cause: Human Related
Date: August 2013
Location: Tuolumne County
Acres: 257,314
Structures: 112
Fatalities: None
12. Zaca
Cause: Human Related
Date: July 2007
Location: Santa Barbara County
Acres: 240,207
Structures: 1
Fatalities: 0
13. Carr Fire
Cause: Human Related
Date: July 2018
Location: Shasta, Trinity Counties
Acres: 229,651
Structures: 1,604
Fatalities: 7
14. Monument Fire (Active)
Cause: Lightning
Date: July 2021
Location: Trinity County
Acres: 222,323
Structures: 50
Fatalities: None
15. Caldor Fire (Active)
Cause: Under investigation
Date: August 2021
Location: Alpine, Amador and El Dorado counties
Acres: 221,774
Structures: 1,003
Fatalities: 1
