2020 Incident Archive

  • 494,489
    Total Emergency Responses
  • 8,648
    Wildfires
  • 4,304,379
    Acres Burned
  • 33
    Fatalities
  • 11,116
    Structures Destroyed
Legend

Layers

2020 Incidents
Incident Counties Started Acres Containment
Gifford Fire San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara 8/01/2025 131,614
97%
Garnet Fire Fresno 8/24/2025 26,982
12%
Pickett Fire Napa 8/21/2025 6,819
90%
Dillon Fire Siskiyou 8/25/2025 6,346
7%
Little Fire Kern 8/22/2025 2,506
93%
Blue Fire Siskiyou 8/26/2025 1,376
0%
2-2 Fire Stanislaus 9/02/2025 1,300
0%
Peak Fire Trinity 8/25/2025 669
0%
Coyote Fire El Dorado 8/20/2025 624
95%
Log Fire Siskiyou 8/26/2025 505
0%
18-1 Fire Merced 9/02/2025 463
85%
Root Fire Shasta 9/01/2025 300
0%
6-5 Fire Tuolumne 9/02/2025 200
0%
2-8 Fire Calaveras 9/02/2025 150
0%
Rock Fire Sacramento 9/02/2025 143
18%
2-7 Fire Calaveras 9/02/2025 100
0%
Hornitos 1-2 Fire Mariposa 9/02/2025 75
20%
Brown Fire Sacramento 9/02/2025 60
25%
Salt 14-2 Fire Fresno 9/02/2025 60
0%
S-14 Fire Modoc 9/01/2025 50
50%
Sierra Fire Placer 9/02/2025 44
0%
5-4 Fire Shasta 8/27/2025 41
80%
3-22 Muck Fire Lassen 8/25/2025 40
90%
Michigan Fire Amador 9/02/2025 33
0%
Springs Fire Tehama 9/01/2025 30
40%
2-3 Fire Calaveras 9/02/2025 30
0%
25 Fire Stanislaus 9/02/2025 25
0%
3-27 Fire Lassen 8/26/2025 24
75%
Tracy Fire Shasta 9/01/2025 18
0%
Valley Fire El Dorado 9/01/2025 16
66%
1-2 Fire Calaveras 9/02/2025 15
0%
South Constantia Fire Lassen 8/29/2025 14
0%
Kibbie Fire Tuolumne 8/26/2025 13
0%
Copper Fire Amador 9/02/2025 11
0%
The Swift Complex Shasta 9/02/2025 488
0%
3D Map
The information presented here reflects what is known to CAL FIRE and is updated frequently. Learn more about data processing

2020 Fire Year

The 2020 California wildfire year was characterized by record-setting wildfires that burned across the state of California as measured during the modern era of wildfire management and record keeping. As of the end of the year, nearly 10,000 fires had burned over 4.2 million acres, more than 4% of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history. California's August Complex fire has been described as the first "gigafire" as the area burned exceeded 1 million acres. The fire crossed seven counties and has been described as being larger than the state of Rhode Island. On August 19, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom reported that the state was battling 367 known fires, many sparked by intense thunderstorms on August 16–17. In early September 2020, a combination of a record-breaking heat wave, and Diablo and Santa Ana winds sparked more fires and explosively grew the active fires, with the August Complex more than doubling the Mendocino Complex's size to become California's largest recorded wildfire.

Pictured: The LNU Lightning Complex which burned across wine country in August 2020.

incidents by year