List of wildfires

Asia

China

• 1987 – The Black Dragon fire burnt a total of 72,884 square kilometres (28,141 sq mi) of forest along the Amur river, with three million acres (4687.5 square miles) destroyed on the Chinese side.^[1]

Indonesia

Forest fires in Indonesia occur 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 km² (14,000 sq mi) of forest burned down. There are other forest fires in Java and Sulawesi on the same year.
• 1997 and 1998 – Unprecedented forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra. 97,000 km² (37,000 sq mi) 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.
• Starting in June and ending in October 2015 - Huge forest fires that officials deemed as "too furious for human intervention" burned 52,000 hectares of land in Sumatra and 138,000 hectares in Kalimantan. The haze coevered countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Burma, Philippines and also Vietnam. In Singapore some of the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup's events on 3 October 2015 were cancelled as the PSI was in the 'Unhealthy' range. In Thailand the haze from Sumatra had turned most parts of southern Thailand such as Narathiwat, Pattani, Phuket, Satun, Songkhla, Surat Thani, Trang and Yala provinces unsightly, even reaching hazardous levels on 7 October. In Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces in Southern Vietnam had been enveloped in fog since 4 October.

Israel

• The Mount Carmel forest fire in Israel, Started on December 2, 2010 and burned 41 km² of forest, killing as many as 44 people, most of them Israel Prison Service officer cadets, when a bus evacuating them was trapped in flames.

Japan

• April 27, 1971 – 340 hectares (840 acres) was lost in a forest fire at Kure, western Honshu, Japan. Construction workers were using fire in order to wither weeds when a strong wind moved through the area, fueling the fire; 18 firefighters were killed. The fire lasted for one day.

South Korea

• April 2000, Gangwon-do Gangneung the whole area is 2000 Gangwon Wildfire.
• March 2013, Gyeongsangbukdo Pohang is Wildfire.

Europe

• 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.
• 2009 Mediterranean wildfires in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey in July 2009

Croatia

• 2007 Croatian coast fires, burning 1,590 km² (610 sq mi)

Germany

• In the fire on the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony in August 1975, 74.18 km² (28.64 sq mi) of heathland burned, killing five firefighters.

Greece

• 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/UTC+3) consuming 70 square kilometers 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 Aetolia-Acarnania.
• 2007 Greek forest fires
• 2009 Greek forest fires
• 2012 Chios forest fire

France

August 1949 The great forest fire of 1949 in the Landes Forest burning 50.000 ha of forest land and killing 82 people

Poland

• Kuźnia Raciborska fire in Poland burned 90.62 km² of forest and killed two firefighters on 26 August 1992. A third casualty is often mentioned, but she did not die in the fire; she was involved in a collision with a fire engine that skidded.

Portugal

• August 2003 Wildfires, destroying 10% of Portuguese forests and killing 18 people

Russia

• 1921 Mari wildfires
• August 1935 – Kursha-2 settlement was burned out with 1200 victims.
• June – August 2010 – Drought and the hottest summer since records began in 1890 caused many devastating forest fires in European Russia.
• April 2015 – A series of wildfires in Southern Siberia killed 26 people and left thousands homeless.^[2]

Spain

• July 17, 2005 – Guadalajara province, Spain, a 130 km² forest fire and 11 dead firefighters. The fire brigade unit is not out of post because of this deadly toll. A barbecue sparked deadly blazes.

Sweden

• August, 2014 – Västmanland province, Sweden, a 191 km² forest fire^[3] with 1 verified death.^[4]

United Kingdom

• May 2011 - Swinley Forest fire, Berkshire, England. Fire appliances from 12 counties attended over several days due to the large area of the fire. The fire service incident log for the call is over 500 pages long.^[5][6]

North America

Canada and the United States

Year	Size	Name	Area	Notes
1825	3,000,000 acres (1,200,000 ha)	Miramichi Fire	New Brunswick	Killed 160 people.
1853	482,000 acres (195,000 ha)	Yaquina Fire[7]	Oregon
1865	1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha)	Silverton Fire	Oregon	Worst recorded fire in state's history.[7]
1870	964,000 acres (390,000 ha) [8]	Saguenay Fire[9][10]	Quebec
1871	1,200,000 acres (490,000 ha)	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.
1871	2,500,000 acres (1,000,000 ha)	The Great Michigan Fire	Michigan	It was overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same day.
1876	500,000 acres (200,000 ha)	Bighorn Fire	Wyoming
1881	1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha)	Thumb Fire	Michigan	Killed 200+ people
1889	300,000 acres (120,000 ha)	Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889	California
1894	160,000 acres (65,000 ha)	Hinckley Fire	Minnesota	Killed 418 people and destroyed 12 towns
1903	464,000 acres (188,000 ha)	Adirondack Fire	New York
1910	3,000,000 acres (1,200,000 ha)	Great Fire of 1910	Idaho- Montana- Washington	Killed 86 people, including 78 firefighters
1911	500,000 acres (200,000 ha)	Great Porcupine Fire	Ontario	Killed 73 people
1916	500,000 acres (200,000 ha)	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 (40,000 ha)	Cloquet Fire	Minnesota- Wisconsin	Killed between 400 and 500 people
1922	415,000 acres (168,000 ha)	Great Fire of 1922	Ontario	Killed 43 people and burnt through 18 townships in the Timiskaming District
1947	175,000 acres (71,000 ha)	The Great Fires of 1947	Maine	A series of fires that lasted ten days; 16 people killed
1948	645,000 acres (261,000 ha)	Mississagi/Chapleau fire	Ontario
1949	4,500 acres (1,800 ha)	Mann Gulch fire	Montana	Killed 13 firefighters
1950	3,500,000 acres (1,400,000 ha)	Chinchaga fire	British Columbia and Alberta	Largest North American fire on record. The B.C. portion was just 90,000 ha.[11]
1953	1,300 acres (530 ha)	Rattlesnake Fire	California	Killed 15 firefighters. Well known textbook case used to train firefighters.
1958	558,260 acres (225,920 ha)	Kech Fire	British Columbia	Largest wildfire in BC history.[11]
1961	16,090 acres (6,510 ha)	Bel Air Fire	California	484 homes destroyed and ~112 injuries.
1970	175,425 acres (70,992 ha)	Laguna Fire	California	382 homes destroyed and 8 people killed.
1985	93,000 acres (38,000 ha)	Allen Fire	North Carolina	In 1985, nearly 93,000 acres of forest, wetlands and farmland burned in northeastern North Carolina in one of the biggest fires in modern state history[12]
1987	650,000 acres (260,000 ha)	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.[13]
1988	793,880 acres (321,270 ha)	Yellowstone fires of 1988	Wyoming- Montana	Never controlled by firefighters; only burned out when a snowstorm hit.
1991	1,520 acres (620 ha)	Oakland Hills firestorm	California	Killed 25 and destroyed 3469 homes and apartments within the cities of Oakland and Berkeley
1993	14,337 acres (5,802 ha)	Laguna Beach Fire	California	Destroyed 441 homes, burned 14,337 acres causing $528,000,000 in damage.[14]
1994	2,115 acres (856 ha)	South Canyon fire	Colorado	Killed 14 firefighters
1998	506,000 acres (205,000 ha)	1998 Florida wildfires	Florida	4899 fires, burned 342 homes, $390 million timber lost.[15]
2000	48,000 acres (19,000 ha)	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, second worst fire in state's recorded history
2001	9,300 acres (3,800 ha)	Thirty Mile Fire	Washington	Killed 4 firefighters
2002	150,700 acres (61,000 ha)	McNally Fire	California	Largest fire in Sequoia NF history.
2002	467,066 acres (189,015 ha)	Rodeo-Chediski fire	Arizona	Threatened, but did not burn the town of Show Low, Arizona
2002	137,760 acres (55,750 ha)	Hayman Fire in Pike National Forest	Colorado	5 firefighter deaths, 600 structures fires
2002	499,750 acres (202,240 ha)	Florence/Sour Biscuit Complex Fire	Oregon	150 million dollars to suppress.
2003	84,750 acres (34,300 ha)	Aspen Fire	Arizona	Destroyed large portions of Summerhaven, Arizona
2003	61,776 acres (25,000 ha)	Okanagan Mountain Park Fire	British Columbia	Displaced 45,000 inhabitants, destroyed 239 homes and threatened urbanized sections of Kelowna.
2003	91,281 acres (36,940 ha)	Old Fire	California	993 homes destroyed, 6 deaths. Simultaneous with the Cedar Fire.
2003	280,278 acres (113,424 ha)	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.
2004	1,305,592 acres (528,354 ha)	Taylor Complex Fire	Alaska	Largest wildfire by acreage of 1997–2007 time period
2006	40,200 acres (16,300 ha)	Esperanza Fire	California	Arson-caused wildfire that killed 5 firefighters and destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings.
2007	564,450 acres (228,420 ha)	Sweat Farm Road/Big Turnaround Complex Fire	Georgia	Largest recorded fire in Georgia history. 26 structures were lost.
2007	124,584 acres (50,417 ha)	Florida Bugaboo Fire	Florida	Largest fire on record in Florida.
2007	363,052 acres (146,922 ha)	Milford Flat Fire	Utah	Largest fire on record in Utah.
2007	653,100 acres (264,300 ha)	Murphy Complex Fire	Idaho – Nevada
2007	127,244 acres (51,494 ha)	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.
2008	41,534 acres (16,808 ha)	Evans Road Wildfire	Eastern North Carolina	Peat fire started on June 1 by lighting strike during North Carolina's drought – the worst on record.
2008	1,557,293 acres (630,214 ha)	Summer 2008 California wildfires	California	In Northern California, the fires were mostly started by lightning. In Santa Barbara (Southern California), the Gap fire endangered homes and lives. The Basin Complex and Gap fire were the highest priority fires in the state at this time.
2009	164,500 acres (66,600 ha)	Brittany Triangle Fire	British Columbia	Also known as the Lava Canyon fire this was the largest fire in BC in 2009. Started July 31 by lighting this fire made news when it threatened wild horse population.[16]
2010	98,842 acres (40,000 ha)	Binta Lake Fire	British Columbia	BC's largest blaze of 2010, resulted in evacuation orders and alerts. Burned 70,000 acres in a 12-hour period.[11]
2011	538,049 acres (217,741 ha)	Wallow Fire	Arizona & New Mexico	The largest fire in Arizona state history. In one 24-hour burn period (6/6-6/7), it consumed 77769 acres of forest land.
2011	34,000 acres (14,000 ha)	Bastrop County Complex fire	Texas	The worst fire in Texas state history, destroyed over 1500 homes
2011	1,748,636 acres (707,648 ha)	Richardson Backcountry Fire	Alberta	Started early in the spring of 2011, as of October 2011 the fire was over 700,000 Ha in size and still burning.
2011	156,293 acres (63,250 ha)	Las Conchas Fire	New Mexico	Second largest fire in New Mexico state history. 63 homes lost. Threatened Los Alamos National Laboratory.
2011	12,000 acres (4,900 ha)	Slave Lake Wildfire	Alberta	Burned through Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada and its surrounding area from May 14, 2011 through May 16, 2011. The fire destroyed roughly one-third of Slave Lake and cost $1.8 billion.
2012	289,478 acres (117,148 ha)	Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire	New Mexico	Largest wildfire in New Mexico state history. Began in the Gila Wilderness as two separate fires that converged, both started by lightning. Destroyed 12 homes in Willow Creek, NM.
2012	44,330 acres (17,940 ha)	Little Bear Fire	New Mexico	Most destructive wildfire in New Mexico state history. Began in the Lincoln National Forest and was started by lightning.
2012	87,284 acres (35,323 ha)	High Park Fire	Colorado	Started by lightning, it is the second largest wildfire in Colorado state history by size.
2012	18,247 acres (7,384 ha)	Waldo Canyon Fire	Colorado	Rampart Range and West Colorado Springs with 346 homes destroyed primarily in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, it is the second most destructive fire in state history. Two fatalities reported.
2012	248,000 acres (100,000 ha)	Ash Creek Fire[17]	Montana
2012	719,694 acres (291,250 ha)	Long Draw Fire and Miller Homestead Fire	Oregon	Oregon's largest fire in 150 years.
2012	332,000 acres (134,000 ha)	Mustang Complex Wildfire	Idaho	[18]
2013	30,274 acres (12,251 ha)[19]	Powerhouse Fire	California	Northern Los Angeles County (near Antelope Valley); started when strong, dry winds knocked over power lines operated by the LADWP.[20] Class-action lawsuit[21] filed as a result.
2013	14,198 acres (5,746 ha)[22]	Black Forest Fire	Colorado	North of Colorado Springs, Large, fast-spreading fire due to dry conditions, high heat and restless winds. Destroyed 509 homes and left 17 homes partially damaged. As of June 13, 2013 it became the most destructive fire in Colorado state history.
2013	3,218 acres (1,302 ha)[23]	Royal Gorge Fire	Colorado	[23] Jumped Royal Gorge and damaged the Royal Gorge Bridge.
2013	1,300 acres (530 ha)[24]	Yarnell Hill Fire	Arizona	19 firefighters killed on June 30, 2013.
2013	617,763 acres (250,000 ha)[25]	Quebec Fire	Quebec	Over 300 evacuated.
2013	253,332 acres (102,520 ha) [26]	Rim Fire	California	Occurred in Yosemite National Park. Biggest wildfire on record in the Sierra Nevada, and third largest wildfire in California history. Started August 17, 2013 and was contained on October 24, 2013.
2014	252,000 acres (102,000 ha)[27]	Carlton Complex Fire	Washington	Consuming 300 homes between July 14 and July, 2014, this was the largest single wildfire in Washington state history.[28] (Of the 3,000,000 acres Great Fire of 1910, only 150,000 acres were in Washington.)
2014	328,892 acres (133,098 ha)	Chelaslie River Fire	British Columbia	Largest wildfire in BC since 1982. Started July 8 and was still burning aggressively as of August 31. Fully contained by October 9.[29]
2015	205,605 acres (83,205 ha)	North Star Fire	Washington	Third largest single fire in Washington state history. It nearly merged with the Okanogan Complex
2015	302,224 acres (122,306 ha)	Okanogan Complex	Washington	The largest wildfire complex in Washington state history.[30]
2015	70,906 acres (28,695 ha)	Bear Creek Fire	Montana	Largest fire in Bob Marshall Wilderness history. Never fully human controlled and only burned out when a large rainstorm/snowstorm hit.[31]
2016	397,420 acres (160,830 ha)[32]	Anderson Creek Fire	Kansas - Oklahoma	Largest wildfire in Kansas history.[33]
2016	249,576 acres (101,000 ha)[34] [35]	Fort McMurray Fire	Alberta	Largest fire evacuation in Alberta history. Costliest disaster in Canadian history.

Oceania

Australia

• Black Thursday Bushfires of 1851 (Victoria)
• Black Friday Bushfires of 1939 (Victoria)
• 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)
• 1994 Eastern seaboard fires
• Black Christmas (bushfires) 2001–2002
• Canberra bushfires of 2003
• Black Tuesday bushfires of 2005 (Eyre Peninsula South Australia)
• Mount Lubra bushfire of 2006
• Black Saturday bushfires of 2009. The deadliest bushfire event ever recorded in Australian history

South America

Bolivia

• 2002 forest fire in Bolivia
• 2010 Bolivia forest fires

Chile

• 2005 Torres del Paine fire
• 2011–2012 Torres del Paine fire
• 2014 Valparaíso wildfire

See also

• List of historic fires

References

1. The Breath of the Black Dragon in Russia and China, The New York Times (October 1, 1988)
2. Anna Smolchenko (14 April 2015). "Huge Siberia wildfires kill 26". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
3. "SvD". Retrieved 6 Aug 2014.
4. "Dagens Nyheter". Retrieved 6 Aug 2014.
5. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/incident_log_for_swinley_forest
6. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-berkshire-13292400
7. "Oregon Department of Forestry Historic Fires In Oregon". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
8. (French)
9. "Historica Minutes: Saguenay Fire". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
10. "THE GREAT SAGUENAY FIRE.; Experience of a Sufferer—Fearful Perils of the Survivors—Narrow Escapes—Saved by Plunging in a Spring". The New York Times. July 18, 1870.
11. http://bcwildfire.ca/History/LargeFires.htm
12. McGrath, Gareth (June 16, 2008). "Big blaze in Holly Shelter inevitable, officials say". Wilmington Star News. Retrieved 08/02/2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
13. "Wildland Fire: History Timeline - U.S. National Park Service". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
14. "Laguna Beach Fire: One of the 20 Largest Fires Losses in U.S. History". 27 October 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
15. "Experts don't expect a repeat of Florida's disastrous 1998 wildfire season - USATODAY.com". Retrieved 16 November 2014.
16. http://bcwildfire.com/History/LargeFires2009.htm
17. "Dead cattle, devastation in wake of Western fires". The Big Story. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
18. "Idaho wildfire roars through former uranium mine site". Reuters. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
19. http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/pub/cdf/images/incidentstatsevents_250.pdf
20. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/powerhouse-fire-caused-electrical-power-lines-la-dwp-us-forest-service-264491921.html
21. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Lawsuit-Filed-Against-LADWP-Powerhouse-Fire-256473711.html
22. Gorski, Eric (June 17, 2013). "Black Forest fire near Colorado Springs at 75 % containment". Denver Post.
23. "Royal Gorge Fire fully contained: Wildfire damaged 32 planks on Colorado bridge". KSHB. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
24. http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/22726613/2013/06/30/yarnell-hill-wildfire-grows-to-almost-1000-acres
25. CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/07/02/north-forest-fire-threat-eastmain-quebec.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
26. "RIM FIRE UPDATE". Facebook. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
27. ":Carlton Complex Fire". Retrieved 3 Aug 2014.
28. "Crews Make Progress Controlling Largest Fire In Washington State's History". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
29. http://bcwildfire.com/hprScripts/WildfireNews/OneFire.asp?ID=497
30. http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/wildfires/2015/08/24/okanogan-complex-grows-twice-size-seattle/32261953/
31. "Bear Creek Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
32. "Barber County wildfire up to 81-percent contained".
33. "Largest Wildfire In Kansas History Continues To Burn". Npr.org.
34. "Fort McMurray Wildfire - May 4, 2016 - evening update". May 2016.
35. Kassam, Ashifa (2016-05-07). "Canada wildfire could double in size by Saturday, as mass evacuations continue". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-05-07.

• City of West Covina Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan: Section 9 Wildfire
• FlameMapper's Historic Fires