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 2022 Wildfires Report from the National Centers for Environmental Information indicates that over 7.5 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 Oregon leads with the most acres burned. California-specific charts below on the Top 10 largest, most destructive, and deadliest wildfires.

Annual Number of Acres Burned in Wildland Fires, 1980-2024

annual_number_of_acres_burned_in_wildfires_1980-2024.jpg

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

Source: National Interagency Fire Center.

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Wildfires By State, 2024

State	Number of fires	Number of acres burned
Alabama	1,525	20,978
Alaska	377	667,075
Arizona	2,191	282,989
Arkansas	1,219	25,444
California	8,316	1,081,144
Colorado	894	60,539
Connecticut	356	339
Delaware	23	137
District of Columbia	0	0
Florida	2,348	65,618
Georgia	2,492	11,896
Hawaii	90	452
Idaho	1,450	996,762
Illinois	47	441
Indiana	64	154
Iowa	362	3,965
Kansas	41	22,217
Kentucky	957	24,448
Louisiana	385	9,058
Maine	653	295
Maryland	174	965
Massachusetts	1,299	4,622
Michigan	447	2,062
Minnesota	1,123	15,125
Mississippi	1,800	55,880
Missouri	2,804	95,095
Montana	2,323	352,491
Nebraska	1,035	113,850
Nevada	929	70,410
New Hampshire	130	127
New Jersey	1,443	12,449
New Mexico	823	82,531
New York	125	6,496
North Carolina	4,668	18,233
North Dakota	935	173,237
Ohio	1,107	2,441
Oklahoma	3,041	383,592
Oregon	2,232	1,797,796
Pennsylvania	1,448	3,792
Puerto Rico	0	0
Rhode Island	73	75
South Carolina	50	634
South Dakota	675	35,809
Tennessee	596	7,771
Texas	4,967	1,314,903
Utah	1,211	90,417
Vermont	97	180
Virginia	742	56,372
Washington	1,806	275,593
West Virginia	1,104	55,309
Wisconsin	1,162	2,597
Wyoming	738	620,069
United States (1)	64,897	8,924,884

(1) 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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Homes At Risk For Extreme Wildfires, By State, 2025

Rank	State	Number of housing units
1	California	1,257,966
2	Colorado	318,783
3	Texas	243,136
4	Oregon	128,007
5	Arizona	123,906
6	New Mexico	117,875
7	Idaho	105,714
8	Montana	90,494
9	Utah	67,367
10	Washington	59,585
11	South Dakota	27,326
12	Nevada	21,744
13	Wyoming	16,243
14	Oklahoma	2,071

Source: Cotality®, a property data and analytics company.

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Top 10 States For Wildfires Ranked By Number Of Fires And By Number Of Acres Burned, 2024

Rank	State	Number of fires	Rank	State	Number of acres burned
1	California	8,316	1	Oregon	1,797,796
2	Texas	4,967	2	Texas	1,314,903
3	North Carolina	4,668	3	California	1,081,144
4	Oklahoma	3,041	4	Idaho	996,762
5	Missouri	2,804	5	Alaska	667,075
6	Georgia	2,492	6	Wyoming	620,069
7	Florida	2,348	7	Oklahoma	383,592
8	Montana	2,323	8	Montana	352,491
9	Oregon	2,232	9	Arizona	282,989
10	Arizona	2,191	10	Washington	275,593

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 2024 dollars (2)
1	2018	Camp Fire	$10,000	$12,524
2	2017	Tubbs Fire	8,700	11,134
3	2018	Woolsey Fire	4,200	5,260
4	2023	Maui Wildfire (Hawaii)	4,300	4,421
5	1991	Oakland Fire (Tunnel)	1,700	3,906
6	2017	Atlas Fire	3,000	3,839
7	2020	Glass Fire	2,950	3,578
8	2020	CZU Lightning Complex Fire	2,500	3,032
9	2017	Thomas Fire	2,250	2,881
10	2021	Marshall Fire (Colorado)	2,500	2,831

(1) Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. All fires on this list occurred in California unless otherwise noted. Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2025.
(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, & Colusa	1,032,648	935	1
2	Dixie (Powerlines)	July 2021	Butte, Plumas, Lassen, Shasta & Tehama	963,309	1,311	1
3	Mendocino Complex (Human Related)	July 2018	Colusa, Lake, Mendocino & Glenn	459,123	280	1
4	Park Fire (Arson)	July 2024	Butte, Plumas, Shasta & Tehama	429,603	709	0
5	SCU Lightning Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Stanislaus, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, & San Joaquin	396,625	225	0
6	Creek (Undetermined)	September 2020	Fresno & Madera	379,895	858	0
7	LNU Lightning Complex (Lightning/Arson)	August 2020	Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Yolo, Lake, & Colusa	363,220	1,491	6
8	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas & Yuba	318,935	2,352	15
9	Thomas (Powerlines)	December 2017	Ventura & Santa Barbara	281,893	1,060	2
10	Cedar (Human Related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15

(1) As of October 2024.

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	Eaton (3)	January 2025	Los Angeles	14,021	9,413	18
3	Palisades (3)	January 2025	Los Angeles	23,707	6,833	12
4	Tubbs (Electrical)	October 2017	Napa & Sonoma	36,807	5,636	22
5	Tunnel - Oakland Hills (Rekindle)	October 1991	Alameda	1,600	2,900	25
6	Cedar (Human related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15
7	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas & Yuba	318,935	2,352	15
8	Valley (Electrical)	September 2015	Lake, Napa and Sonoma	76,067	1,958	4
9	Witch (Powerlines)	October 2007	San Diego	197,990	1,650	2
10	Woolsey (Electrical)	November 2018	Ventura	96,949	1,643	3

(1) As of April 2025.
(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.
(3) Under investigation.

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 & Sonoma	36,807	5,643	22
5	Eaton (2)	January 2025	Los Angeles	14,021	9,413	18
6	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas & Yuba	318,935	2,352	15
7	Cedar (Human related)	October 2003	San Diego	273,246	2,820	15
8	Rattlesnake (Arson)	July 1953	Glenn	1,340	0	15
9	Palisades (2)	January 2025	Los Angeles	23,707	6,833	12
10	Loop (Unknown)	November 1966	Los Angeles	2,028	0	12