Largest wildfires
| Name | County | Acres | Hectares | |
| 1. | August Complex | Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity, ... | 1,032,648 | 417,898 |
| 2. | Dixie | Butte, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, Tehama | 963,309 | 389,837 |
| 3. | Mendocino Complex | Mendocino, Lake, Colusa, Glenn | 459,123 | 185,800 |
| 4. | SCU Lightning Complex | Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San ... | 396,624 | 160,508 |
How are California’s fire departments named fires?
Fires are named almost the instant they are reported, said Scott McLean, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as Cal Fire. The decision is usually made by the dispatcher who takes the call.
What are California’s most destructive fires?
Their names are seared into the collective consciousness of California: The Griffith Park fire of 1933. The Bel-Air fire of 1961. The Tunnel fire of 1991. The Camp fire of 2018. Spurred by high winds, low humidity and an abundance of fuel, California’s most destructive fires remake its cities and scorch its wildlands.
How do fires get their names?
Less frequently, fires are named by the first responder to reach the scene. After receiving a report of fire, dispatchers quickly plug its coordinates into a map and look for a nearby feature to use as a moniker. A geologic landmark like a valley, river or canyon will work. So will the name of a road.
What is a CA a complex fire?
A complex refers to two or more fires in the same area that are then grouped together and assigned to a Cal Fire command, according to the National Park Service. “We only group fires like that when we have a lightning siege as such,” Brice Bennett, public information officer for Cal Fire told The SF Chronicle.
How do fires in California get their names?
CALIFORNIA, USA — Wildfires often become known by a name. How that name originates is often a combination of a dispatcher or fire official and the area where a fire starts. Most of the time, dispatchers designate a name for the fire as they send the first resources to the wildfire.
How do wildfires get their names?
A wildfire is usually named after the closest landmark — water tank, street name, road sign, etc. — or a nearby geological feature like a stream, lake, canyon, mountain peak, trail or ridge. In some cases, fires are named simply for the towns or counties in which they originate.
What are the California fires called?
Largest wildfiresNameCounty1.August ComplexGlenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama, Trinity, Shasta2.DixieButte, Lassen, Plumas, Shasta, Tehama3.Mendocino ComplexMendocino, Lake, Colusa, Glenn4.SCU Lightning ComplexSanta Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Merced, Stanislaus16 more rows
Why is California fire called Dixie?
The Dixie Fire was an enormous wildfire in Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta, and Tehama Counties, California. It is named after Dixie Road, near where the fire started in Butte County.
How are wildfires named or classified?
Unlike hurricanes, wildfires are not named from a predetermined list. They are named by officials, who choose names based on “a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc.,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
What was the biggest wildfire in US history?
The 1988 Yellowstone Fires These fires collectively formed the largest wildfire in the recorded history of the Yellowstone National Park in the US. Spurred by drought conditions and winds, the fire quickly spread out of control and turned into one large fire that burned for several months.
Why was it named Camp Fire?
Named after Camp Creek Road, its place of origin, the fire started on Thursday, November 8, 2018, in Northern California's Butte County. Ignited by a faulty electric transmission line, the fire originated above several communities and an east wind drove the fire downhill through developed areas.
Why are fires called complexes?
When there are two or more wildfires burning close together in the same area, they are often called a “complex” and attacked by firefighters under a unified command.
What is the biggest fire in history?
Peshtigo Fire The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 was the deadliest wildfire in recorded human history. The fire occurred on October 8, 1871, on a day when the entirety of the Great Lake region of the United States was affected by a huge conflagration that spread throughout the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois.
What was the worst fire in California history?
The 2018 Camp fire in Butte County was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California's history, although it does not rank among the 20 largest. The blaze was started by power lines in November 2018. It burned 153,336 acres, destroyed 18,804 structures and killed 85 people.
Was the Dixie Fire arson?
Talbert announced. According to court documents, Maynard engaged in an arson spree in the vicinity of the then ongoing Dixie Fire in areas of the Shasta Trinity National Forest and the Lassen National Forest. Some of the fires Maynard set were new fires behind the firefighters fighting the Dixie Fire.
Who set Dixie Fire?
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of California, Gary Stephen Maynard, 47, of San Jose, has been charged with arson for setting fires to federal land and setting timber fires.
What technology or tools do meteorologists use to monitor wildfires?
Enhancements to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's decision support system give forecasters new capabilities for tracking smoke from fires using satellite data.
What technology tools do meteorologists use to monitor a wildfire?
Using computer models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), scientists create maps showing areas that will be more susceptible to wildfires. These areas, then, can be managed especially to lower the chances of wildfire.
What is the name of the fire in Northern California?
Fire science: Infamous 'Diablo' winds are fueling fierce northern California wildfires. So, what are they? Sometimes a fire can have two names: One of the worst wildfire disasters in U.S. history, a 1994 blaze that killed 14 firefighters, has become known as the Storm King Fire after the mountain where the crew died.
How are fires named?
Fires typically are named by the dispatch center that sends the first responders to the fire, though sometimes they are named by the first firefighters on the scene, according to the California Department of For estry and Fire Protection . Cal Fire said that “quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locator, ...
What is the South Canyon Fire?
But, officially, the blaze was known as the South Canyon Fire. Some names are rather whimsical: “You could have a fire by a landfill – and they might call it the Dump Fire,” Heather Williams, a Cal Fire spokeswoman told the New York Times.
Why are hurricane names retired?
This is similar to how hurricane names are "retired" if they caused devastating damage or destruction. For example, there will never again be another Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy, both of which had their names retired due to the historic devastation they caused.
Where does the name "fire" come from?
The name comes from a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Fires typically are named by the dispatch center that sends the first responders to the fire.
Where did the Carr Fire get its name?
The name comes from a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc., Cal Fire reported. For example, the Carr Fire, which destroyed 1,000 homes and killed eight people near Redding, California, before reaching full containment in August 2018, got its name not for the flat tire that sparked it ...
Is it safe to name a fire after a person?
The risks are everywhere. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there are some fire names that should be avoided. This includes naming a fire after a person, private property or a company, or naming a fire after another catastrophic fire (one that experienced fatalities or high property losses, for instance).
Where is the Bear Fire?
An inmate firefighter takes a break while working to contain the Bear Fire in Oroville, California, on September 24. Inmate firefighters extinguish hot spots while working to contain the Bear Fire on September 24. The Bobcat Fire burns near Cedar Springs, California, on September 21.
Where did the Fork Fire start?
The Fork Fire, for example, began near South Fork Road, in northern California's El Dorado County. The Bullfrog Fire began near Bullfrog Lake in Fresno County. Photos: Wildfires burning in the West. Flames burn at a home leveled by the Creek Fire in Fresno County, California. Hide Caption.
What do dipatchers name fires?
Dipatchers often choose fire names based on geographic markers -- it could be the fire's location, or a nearby street name, park or lake, Berlant said. "It's up to the dispatcher who is dispatching the fire to assign it a name right at the point of dispatch," he said.
Where is the Grizzly Creek fire?
90 of 124. Photos: Wildfires burning in the West. Members of the US Forest Service discuss their next moves to battle the Grizzly Creek Fire near Dotsero, Colorado, on August 21.
Where was the Malden fire?
The fire destroyed about 80% of the homes and buildings in Malden, which is about 35 miles south of Spokane. Firefighter Nick Grinstead battles the Creek Fire in Shaver Lake, California, on September 7. A firefighter in Jamul, California, battles the Valley Fire on September 6.
Where is the smoke burning on August 22?
A burned-out vehicle is left in front of a destroyed residence as smoke fills the sky in Boulder Creek on August 22. Hide Caption. 85 of 124. Photos: Wildfires burning in the West. Smoke hangs low in the air at the Big Basin Redwoods State Park as some redwoods burn in Boulder Creek on August 22.
Who was the firefighter who died in the El Dorado fire?
A photograph of Charles Morton, a firefighter killed battling the El Dorado Fire, is displayed at a memorial service in San Bernardino, California, on September 25. Morton, 39, was a 14-year veteran of the US Forest Service and a squad boss with the Big Bear Hotshot Crew of the San Bernardino National Forest. Hide Caption.
The Dixie Fire in Northern California Is The Second-Largest In State History
"If a fire is called into the 911 center off of Main Street, this fire would be called the Main Fire," explains Cal Fire's Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant in an informational video.
Wildfires Rage Through Greece As Thousands Are Evacuated
Of course, this kind of pressure can be the cause for some pretty interesting names. In 2015, Idaho's 57th wildfire was named "Not Creative" by exhausted firefighters who couldn't come up with a name on the spot, according to firefighter Besty Haynes, who spoke with NPR's Morning Edition that year.
What are the winds that cause wildfires in California?
At times, these wildfires are fanned or made worse by strong, dry winds, known as Diablo winds when they occur in the northern part of the state and Santa Ana winds when they occur in the south.
When do California wildfires occur?
This is a partial and incomplete list of California wildfires. California has dry, windy, and often hot weather conditions from spring through late autumn that can produce moderate to severe wildfires.
How long did the 2008 California wildfires last?
The summer 2008 wildfires were widespread and deadly, with at least 3,596 wildfires of various origins burning throughout Northern and Central California, for around four months. In some parts of California, fires can recur in areas with histories of fires.
Why are wildfires so dangerous in California?
Wildfires in California are growing more dangerous because of the accumulation of wood fuel in forests, higher population and greater electricity transmission and distribution lines. United States taxpayers pay about US$ 3 billion a year to fight wildfires, and big fires can lead to billions of dollars in property losses.
How many people live in fire zones in California?
More than 350,000 people in California live in towns sited completely within zones deemed to be at very high risk of fire. In total, more than 2.7 million people live in "very high fire hazard severity zones", which also include areas at lesser risk.
How many acres did the Santa Ana fire burn?
Santa Ana winds in California expand fires and spread smoke over hundreds of miles, as in this October 2007 satellite image. The Rim Fire consumed more than 250,000 acres (100,000 ha) of forest near Yosemite National Park, in 2013. This is a partial and incomplete list of California wildfires.
Can lightning spark wildfires?
On occasion, lightning strikes from thunderstorms may also spark wildfires in areas that have seen past ignition. Examples of this are the 1999 Megram Fire, the 2008 California wildfires., as well as both the LNU and SCU Lightning Complex fires of 2020.
