Facts + Statistics: Wildfires

Key Facts

According to federal data cited by the National Park Service, humans cause about 85 percent of all wildfires yearly in the United States.
The Annual 2021 Wildfires Report from the National Centers for Environmental Information indicates that over 7 million acres of wildland were consumed by fire that year.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, California leads the country with the most wildfires and number of acres burned.  California-specific charts below on the Top 10 largest, most destructive, and deadliest wildfires.

Annual Number of Acres Burned in Wildland Fires, 1980-2021

number_of_acres_burned_in_wildfires_1980-2021.gif

*2004 fires and acres do not include state lands for North Carolina.

Source: National Interagency Fire Center.

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States At High To Extreme Wildfire Risk, 2021 (1)

Rank	State	Estimated number of properties at risk	Rank	State	Percent of properties at risk
1	California	2,040,600	1	Montana	29%
2	Texas	717,800	2	Idaho	26
3	Colorado	373,900	3	Colorado	17
4	Arizona	242,200	4	California	15
5	Idaho	175,000	5	New Mexico	15
6	Washington	155,500	6	Utah	14
7	Oklahoma	153,400	7	Wyoming	14
8	Oregon	147,500	8	Arizona	9
9	Montana	137,800	9	Oklahoma	9
10	Utah	136,000	10	Oregon	9
11	New Mexico	131,600	11	Texas	7
12	Nevada	67,100	12	Nevada	6
13	Wyoming	36,800	13	Washington	5

(1) As of October 2021.

Source: Verisk Wildfire Risk Analytics used data from FireLine®, Verisk's wildfire risk management tool.

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Wildfires By State, 2021

State	Number of fires	Number of acres burned
Alabama	1,040	22,055
Alaska	384	253,357
Arizona	1,773	524,428
Arkansas	378	17,003
California	9,280	2,233,666
Colorado	1,017	48,195
Connecticut	60	127
Delaware	0	0
District of Columbia	0	0
Florida	2,262	105,475
Georgia	2,139	11,108
Hawaii	1	40,000
Idaho	1,332	439,600
Illinois	29	219
Indiana	34	836
Iowa	187	7,950
Kansas	55	163,982
Kentucky	723	22,859
Louisiana	507	10,303
Maine	636	377
Maryland	112	1,162
Massachusetts	588	1,439
Michigan	435	9,289
Minnesota	2,065	69,405
Mississippi	922	21,037
Missouri	1,531	40,262
Montana	2,573	747,678
Nebraska	785	27,294
Nevada	565	123,427
New Hampshire	280	96
New Jersey	906	6,652
New Mexico	672	123,792
New York	137	550
North Carolina	5,151	25,838
North Dakota	946	49,347
Ohio	524	1,415
Oklahoma	1,727	113,235
Oregon	2,202	828,777
Pennsylvania	1,350	2,892
Puerto Rico	0	0
Rhode Island	99	178
South Carolina	630	7,337
South Dakota	868	43,620
Tennessee	550	4,937
Texas	5,576	168,258
Utah	1,085	60,863
Vermont	90	157
Virginia	567	6,696
Washington	1,863	674,222
West Virginia	752	7,504
Wisconsin	1,040	2,159
Wyoming	540	53,496
United States (1)	58,968	7,124,554

(1) Includes Puerto Rico. Totals for the United States do not match totals shown elsewhere by the National Interagency Fire Center due to the use of different exhibits.

Source: National Interagency Fire Center.

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Top 10 States For Wildfires Ranked By Number Of Fires And By Number Of Acres Burned, 2021

Rank	State	Number of fires	Rank	State	Number of acres burned
1	California	9,260	1	California	2,233,666
2	Texas	5,576	2	Oregon	828,777
3	North Carolina	5,151	3	Montana	747,678
4	Montana	2,573	4	Washisngton	674,222
5	Florida	2,262	5	Arizona	524,428
6	Oregon	2,202	6	Idaho	439,600
7	Georgia	2,139	7	Alaska	253,357
8	Minnesota	2,065	8	Texas	168,258
9	Washington	1,863	9	Kansas	163,982
10	Arizona	1,773	10	New Mexico	123,792

Source: National Interagency Fire Center.

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Top 10 Costliest Wildland Fires In The United States (1)

($ millions)

			Estimated insured loss
Rank	Year	Name	Dollars when occurred	In 2021 dollars (2)
1	2018	Camp Fire	$10,000	$10,750
2	2017	Tubbs Fire	8,700	9,560
3	2018	Woolsey Fire	4,200	4,520
4	1991	Oakland Fire (Tunnel)	1,700	3,350
5	2017	Atlas Fire	3,000	3,300
6	2020	Glass Fire	2,950	3,070
7	2020	CZU Lightning Complex Fire	2,500	2,600
8	2017	Thomas Fire	2,250	2,470
9	2020	LNU Lightning Complex Fire	2,250	2,340
10	2007	Witch Fire	1,600	2,080

(1) Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Includes events that occurred through 2021. All fires on this list occurred in California. Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ranked on losses in 2021 dollars. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of Feburary 3, 2022.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Largest California Wildfires (1)

Rank	Fire name (cause)	Date	County	Acres	Structures	Deaths
1	August Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, Tehama, Glenn, Lake and Colusa	1,032,648	935	1
2	Dixie (Powerlines)	July 2021	Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta and Tehama	963,309	1,311	1
3	Mendocino Complex (Human related)	July 2018	Colusa, Lake, Mendocino and Glenn	459,123	280	1
4	SCU Lightning Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Stanislaus, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Joaquin	396,625	225	0
5	Creek (Undetermined)	September 2020	Fresno and Madera	379,895	858	0
6	LNU Lightning Complex (Lightning/arson)	August 2020	Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo, Lake and Colusa	363,220	1,491	6
7	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas and Yuba	318,893	2,352	15
8	Thomas (Powerlines)	December 2017	Ventura and Santa Barbara	281,893	1,060	2
9	Cedar (Human related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15
10	Rush (Lightning)	August 2012	Lassen	271,911 (2)	0	0

(1) As of October 2022.
(2) In additon to the 271,911 acres in California, there were an addition 43,666 acres in Nevada.

Source: Calfire.

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Top 10 Most Destructive California Wildfires (1)

Rank	Fire name and cause	Date	County	Acres	Structures (2)	Deaths
1	Camp Fire (Powerlines)	November 2018	Butte	153,336	18,804	85
2	Tubbs (Electrical))	October 2017	Napa and Sonoma	36,807	5,636	22
3	Tunnel - Oakland Hills (Rekindle)	October 1991	Alameda	1,600	2,900	25
4	Cedar (Human related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15
5	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas and Yuba	318,935	2,352	15
6	Valley (Electrical)	September 2015	Lake, Napa and Sonoma	76,067	1,958	4
7	Witch (Powerlines)	October 2007	San Diego	197,990	1,650	2
8	Woolsey (Electrical)	November 2018	Ventura	96,949	1,643	3
9	Carr (Human related)	July 2018	Shasta County, Trinity County	229,651	1,614	8
10	Glass (Undetermined)	September 2020	Napa and Sonoma	67,484	1,520	0

(1) As of October 2022.
(2) "Structures" include homes, outbuildings (barns, garages, sheds, etc) and commercial properties destroyed. This list does not include fire jurisdiction. These are the Top 20 regardless of whether they were state, federal, or local responsibility.

Source: Calfire.

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Top 10 Deadliest California Wildfires (1)

Rank	Fire name and cause	Date	County	Acres	Structures	Deaths
1	Camp Fire (Power lines)	November 2018	Butte	153,336	18,804	85
2	Griffith Park (Unknown)	October 1933	Los Angeles	47	0	29
3	Tunnel - Oakland Hills (Rekindle)	October 1991	Alameda	1,600	2,900	25
4	Tubbs (Electrical)	October 2017	Napa and Sonoma	36,807	5,636	22
5	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas and Yuba	318,935	2,852	15
6	Cedar (Human related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15
7	Rattlesnake (Arson)	July 1953	Glenn	1,340	0	15
8	Loop (Unknown)	November 1966	Los Angeles	2,028	0	12
9	Hauser Creek (Human related)	October 1943	San Diego	13,145	0	11
10	Inaja (Human related)	November 1956	San Diego	43,904	0	11