List of wildfires
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List of wildfires |
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This is a list of notorious wildfires:
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| Year | Size | Name | Area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1825 | 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) | Miramichi Fire | New Brunswick | Killed 160 people. |
| 1846 | 450,000 acres (1,800 km2) | Yachina Fire | Oregon | |
| 1853 | 320,000 acres (1,300 km2) | Nestucca Fire | Oregon | |
| 1865 | 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) | Silverton Fire | Oregon | Worst recorded fire in state's history |
| 1868 | 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) | Coos Fire | Oregon | |
| 1870 | 964,000 acres (3,900 km2) [1] | Saguenay Fire[2][3] | Quebec | |
| 1871 | 1,200,000 acres (4,900 km2) | Peshtigo Fire | Wisconsin | Killed over 1,700 people and has distinction of the conflagration that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history. It was overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same day. |
| 1876 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) | Bighorn Fire | Wyoming | |
| 1881 | 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2) | The Great Michigan Fire see also Thumb Fire | Michigan | Killed 200+ people |
| 1889 | 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) | Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 | California | |
| 1894 | 160,000 acres (650 km2) | Hinckley Fire | Minnesota | Killed 418 people and destroyed 12 towns |
| 1903 | New York | |||
| 1910 | 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km2) | Great Fire of 1910 | Idaho- Montana |
Killed 86 people |
| 1911 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) | Cochrane Fire | Ontario | Killed 73 people |
| 1916 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) | Great Matheson Fire | Ontario | Killed 228 (U.O. 400+) people and destroyed several towns, Cochrane burnt again after just five years. |
| 1918 | 100,000 acres (400 km2) | Cloquet Fire | Minnesota- Wisconsin |
Killed between 400 and 500 people |
| 1922 | 415,000 acres (1,700 km2) | Great Fire of 1922 | Ontario | Killed 43 people and burnt through 18 townships in the Timiskaming District |
| 1933 | 240,000 acres (970 km2) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1939 | 190,000 acres (770 km2) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1945 | 180,000 acres (730 km2) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1947 | 175,000 acres (710 km2) | The Great Fires of 1947 | Maine | A series of fires that lasted ten days; 16 people killed |
| 1948 | 645,000 acres (2,600 km2) | Mississagi/Chapleau fire | Ontario | |
| 1949 | 4,500 acres (18 km2) | Mann Gulch fire | Montana | Killed 13 firefighters |
| 1950 | 17,000 acres (69 km2) | Capitan Gap fire | New Mexico | |
| 1951 | 380,000 acres (1,538 km2) | Great Forks Fire | Washington | |
| 1951 | 32,700 acres (132 km2) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1953 | 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) | Rattlesnake Fire | California | Killed 15 firefighters. Well known textbook case used to train firefighters. |
| 1970 | 175,425 acres (710 km2) | Laguna Fire | California | 382 homes destroyed and 8 people killed; the largest fire in the state's history until the Cedar Fire |
| 1987 | 650,000 acres (2,630 km2) | Siege of 1987 | California-Oregon | These fires were started by a large lightning storm in late August. The storm started roughly 1600 new fires, most caused by dry lightning. Firefighting efforts continued into October, before the majority of the fires were controlled. |
| 1988 | 793,880 acres (3,213 km2) | Yellowstone fires of 1988 | Wyoming- Montana |
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| 1991 | 1,520 acres (6.2 km2) | Oakland Hills firestorm | California | Killed 25 and destroyed 3469 homes and apartments within the cities of Oakland and Berkeley |
| 1994 | 2,115 acres (8.6 km2) | South Canyon fire | Colorado | Killed 14 firefighters |
| 1995 | 7,000 acres (28.3 km2) | Long Island Wildfires | New York | |
| 1998 | 300,000 acres (1,200 km2) | Unnamed | Florida | 2200 fires, during drought season; burned 150 homes, $390 million timber lost, 80,000 evacuees, $133 million in fire suppression costs |
| 2000 | 48,000 acres (194 km2) | Cerro Grande Fire | New Mexico | Burned about 420 dwellings in Los Alamos, New Mexico, damaged >100 buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory; $1 billion damage, worst fire in state's recorded history |
| 2001 | 9,300 acres (38 km2) | Thirty Mile Fire | Washington | Killed 4 firefighters |
| 2002 | 150,700 acres (610 km2) | McNally Fire | California | Largest fire in Sequoia NF history. |
| 2002 | 467,066 acres (1,890 km2) | Rodeo-Chediski fire | Arizona | Threatened, but did not burn the town of Show Low, Arizona |
| 2002 | 137,760 acres (557 km2) | Hayman Fire in Pike National Forest | Colorado | 9 firefighter deaths, 600 structures fires |
| 2002 | 499,750 acres (2,020 km2) | Florence/Sour Biscuit Complex Fire | Oregon | |
| 2003 | 84,750 acres (343 km2) | Aspen Fire | Arizona | Destroyed large portions of Summerhaven, Arizona |
| 2003 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) | Okanagan Mountain Park Fire | British Columbia | Displaced 45,000 inhabitants, destroyed 239 homes and threatened urbanized sections of Kelowna. |
| 2003 | 91,281 acres (369 km2) | Old Fire | California | 993 homes destroyed, 6 deaths. Simultaneous with the Cedar Fire. |
| 2003 | 280,278 acres (1,134 km2) | Cedar Fire | California | Largest recorded fire in California history (see 1889 Santiago Canyon fire that may have been larger); burned 2,232 homes and killed 15 in San Diego County. Simultaneous with 15 other fires in Southern California (including the Old Fire) covering 721,791 acres (2,920 km2), killing 24, displacing 120,000 and destroying 3,640 homes. Damage from combined fires estimated at 2 billion USD |
| 2003 | 90,769 acres (367 km2) | B&B Complex Fire | Oregon | Large fire in Central Oregon between Black Butte and Mount Jefferson. The fire closed off a large section of state HWY 20. The fire began as two separate fires. Both started on August 19th and lasted until September 5th. |
| 2005 | September 2005 California wildfires | California | ||
| 2006 | 40,200 acres (163 km2) | Esperanza Fire | California | 10 buildings destroyed, 5 firefighters killed. The blaze started on October 26th and scorched 40,200 acres (163 km2), or more than 60 square miles (160 km2), of forest and brush before being fully contained October 30th. It destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings. |
| 2007 | 468,938 acres (1,898 km2) | Sweat Farm Road/Big Turnaround Complex Fire | Georgia | Largest recorded fire in Georgia history. 26 structures were lost. |
| 2007 | 3,500 acres (14.2 km2) | Angora Fire | California | 3 injuries. |
| 2007 | 124,584 acres (504 km2) | Florida Bugaboo Fire | Florida | Largest fire on record in Florida. |
| 2007 | 363,052 acres (1,469 km2) | Milford Flat Fire | Utah | Largest fire on record in Utah. |
| 2007 | 653,100 acres (2,640 km2) | Murphy Complex Fire | Idaho | |
| 2007 | 240,207 acres (972 km2) | Zaca Fire | California | The blaze was started July 4 by sparks from water pipe repair equipment. The fire had a containment cost of $117 million. It was contained on September 2. It is California's second largest recorded fire. |
| 2007 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km2) | California wildfires of October 2007 | California | A series of wildfires that killed 9 people and injured 85 (including 61 firefighters). Burned at least 1,500 homes from the Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border. Aggravated by Santa Ana winds that reached up to 85 mph (140 km/h). The largest fire, the Witch (Creek), was located in San Diego county. |
| 2008 | 13,709 acres (55.5 km2) | Trigo Fire | New Mexico | Burned from 15 April to 22 May. 59 homes were destroyed. The fire had a containment cost of $11 million. |
| 2008 | 34,000 acres (138 km2) | Evans Road Wildfire | Eastern North Carolina | |
| 2008 | 1,102,293 acres (4,461 km2) | Summer 2008 California wildfires | California | In Northern California, the fires were mostly started by lightning. In Santa Barbara (Southern California), the Gap fire endagered homes and lives. The Basin Complex and Gap fire are the highest priority currently. Caused unhealthy air quality in large parts of California for several weeks. Near Yosemite the Telegraph Fire was started by target shooters. During all fires many homes were lost. |
- Black Friday Bushfires of 1939 (South Australia) (Country Fire Service)
- Black Sunday Bushfires of 1955 (South Australia)
- 1961 Western Australian bushfires
- 1967 Tasmanian fires
- Ash Wednesday fires of 1980 and 1983 (Victoria and South Australia) (Country Fire Service,Country Fire Authority)
- 1994 Eastern seaboard fires
- The November 1997 fire in the Sydney area (New South Wales Rural Fire Service)
- Sydney forest fires in 2001-2002
- Canberra bushfires of 2003
- Black Tuesday bushfires of 2005 (Eyre Peninsula South Australia)
- In the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony, Germany 74.18 square kilometres (29 sq mi) of heathland burned, killing five firefighters in August 1975.
- Penteli Fire in Greece affected in June and July, 1995 in the Penteli mountains and lasted for almost the weekend from Friday.
- 1998 forest fires in Greece, a series of forest fores affected the Athens area, Avlona, Taygetus and Olympus mountains and other places. The fire began in the beginning of the summer season.
- 2000 forest fires in Greece, a series of forest fires affected Greece including Agioi Theodoroi and eastern Corinthia at the beginning of July 2000
- 2005 East Attica Fire in Greece - Forest fires ravaged East Attica on July 28, 2005 from Agia Triada Rafinas to west of Rafina. The fires began at around 11:00 (EET) (8:00 AM GMT) consuming 70 km2 of forests, properties and farmlands. The fire spread quickly after a few hours with winds of up to 55 to 70 km/h and spread near the suburban housings of Athens near Rafina causing dense smoke. The fire reached Kallitechnio and the settlements by around 3:30 (EET) and devastated homes leaving some people homeless and evacuated people in areas around Agia Triada Rafinas, Agia Kyriaki Rafinas, Kallitechnio, Loutsa, Neos Vourtzas and the Rafina area mostly on the hillside areas. Pine trees were devastated. Firefighters didn't put out the blaze until the winds calmed down around 5:00 (EET). It took hundreds of fire trucks, firefighters, planes, 65 firefighting helicopters from all over the surrounding areas and most of Greece to put out the blaze. A stretch of Marathonos Avenue became closed.
- July 29, 2005 - a day after the enormous Attica fire, another series of fires occurred throughout Greece, entirely in Preveza including Monolithi consuming properties and a campground, Ioannina and Xiromeni of Aitoloakarnania.
- 2007 Greek forest fires
- 2000 fires in Southern Europe in July 2000 consumed forests and buildings in southern France, parts of Iberia, Corsica, and most of Italy including the southern part during the heatwave dominating southern Europe with 40 to 45 °C temperatures caused the phenomena.
- Kuznia Raciborska Fire|Kunia Raciborska Fire in Poland, burned 90.62 km2 of forest and killed two firefighters on August 26, 1992. A third casualty is often mentioned, but the woman concerned did not die in the fire itself - she was involved in a collision with a fire engine that went into a skid.
- August 2003- Wildfires in August 2003
- 1921 Mari wildfires
- August 1935 - Kursha-2 settlement was burned out with 1200 victims.
- July 17, 2005 - Guadalajara province, Spain, a 130 km2 forest fire and 11 dead firefighters. Regioent out of post because of this deadly toll. A barbecue sparked deadly blazes.
- The 2002 forest fire in Bolivia
Forest fires in Indonesia occurred annually. When there is a weather pattern disturbance because of strong El Nino, the number and the distribution of forest fires in Indonesia increased significantly. When there is a weather pattern disturbance because of strong La Nina, the number and the distribution of forest fire in Indonesia decreased. An El Nino is usually followed by La Nina on the following year. The strength of disturbance is determined by Southern oscillation index. Large forest fire in Indonesia because of strong El Nino:
- 1982 and 1983 - Massive forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra. 36,000 square kilometres (8,900,000 acres) of forest burned down. There are other forest fires in Java and Sulawesi on the same year.
- In 1987, 1991 and 1994, there were large scale forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi in Indonesia. More than 3,300 square kilometres (820,000 acres) of forest were destroyed by forest fire.
- 1997 and 1998 - Colossal, unprecedented forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra. 97,000 square kilometres (24,000,000 acres) of forest were destroyed, more than 2.6 gigatonnes of CO2 was released to the atmosphere. The underground smouldering fire on the peat bogs continue to burn and ignite new forest fire each year during dry season. There are other forest fires in Java and Sulawesi on the same year.
- From 1999 to 2005: there was annual forest fires in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi. Every year, forest are burned by farmers, plantation owners and continuous underground fire (since 1997). 1,345 square kilometres (330,000 acres) of forest were destroyed by forest fire.
- April 27 1971 - 850-acre (3.4 km2) lost massive forest fire at Kure, western Honshu, Japan. Underconstruction workers are using fire, fire are move to wither weed, while firefighters working digestion fire, they got involved fire with strong wind. 18 firefighters are killed, this accident. This forest fire continued 1-day.

