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 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, 1980-2023

annual_number_of_acres_burned_in_wildfires_1980-2023.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, 2023

State	Number of fires	Number of acres burned
Alabama	1,856	18,335
Alaska	346	314,276
Arizona	1,837	188,483
Arkansas	147	5,659
California	7,364	332,722
Colorado	861	41,917
Connecticut	499	297
Delaware	1	0
District of Columbia	0	0
Florida	2,730	99,642
Georgia	2,386	10,330
Hawaii	214	12,059
Idaho	892	87,801
Illinois	22	111
Indiana	47	521
Iowa	6	6
Kansas	49	17,963
Kentucky	9	70
Louisiana	1,467	22,103
Maine	493	325
Maryland	196	4,486
Massachusetts	1,079	1,468
Michigan	466	4,287
Minnesota	836	9,416
Mississippi	2,383	52,508
Missouri	127	9,499
Montana	1,662	123,133
Nebraska	569	180,733
Nevada	375	1,300
New Hampshire	52	58
New Jersey	1,194	18,033
New Mexico	1,019	212,378
New York	150	1,383
North Carolina	5,214	73,953
North Dakota	471	4,183
Ohio	883	2,469
Oklahoma	1,580	162,489
Oregon	1,979	202,035
Pennsylvania	1,910	9,628
Puerto Rico	0	0
Rhode Island	78	582
South Carolina	22	591
South Dakota	177	945
Tennessee	772	15,394
Texas	7,102	210,264
Utah	782	18,109
Vermont	67	62
Virginia	43	12,085
Washington	1,707	151,316
West Virginia	1,124	45,679
Wisconsin	1,086	4,883
Wyoming	249	7,934
United States (1)	56,580	2,693,910

(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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Homes At Risk For Extreme Wildfires, By State, 2024

Rank	State	Number of housing units
1	California	1,258,748
2	Colorado	321,294
3	Texas	244,617
4	Oregon	129,567
5	Arizona	124,603
6	New Mexico	120,093
7	Idaho	104,782
8	Montana	88,102
9	Utah	67,023
10	Washington	59,563
11	South Dakota	26,697
12	Nevada	22,768
13	Wyoming	16,215
14	Oklahoma	1,624

Source: CoreLogic®, 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, 2023

Rank	State	Number of fires	Rank	State	Number of acres burned
1	California	7,364	1	California	332,722
2	Texas	7,102	2	Alaska	314,276
3	North Carolina	5,214	3	New Mexico	212,378
4	Florida	2,730	4	Texas	210,264
5	Georgia	2,386	5	Oregon	202,035
6	Mississippi	2,383	6	Arizona	188,483
7	Oregon	1,979	7	Nebraska	180,733
8	Pennsylvania	1,910	8	Oklahoma	162,489
9	Alabama	1,856	9	Washington	151,316
10	Arizona	1,837	10	Montana	123,133

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 2022 dollars (2)
1	2018	Camp Fire	$10,000	$11,836
2	2017	Tubbs Fire	8,700	10,522
3	2018	Woolsey Fire	4,200	4,971
4	1991	Oakland Fire (Tunnel)	1,700	3,691
5	2017	Atlas Fire	3,000	3,628
6	2020	Glass Fire	2,950	3,381
7	2020	CZU Lightning Complex Fire	2,500	2,865
8	2017	Thomas Fire	2,250	2,723
9	2021	Marshall Fire	2,500	2,675
10	2020	LNU Lightning Complex Fire	2,250	2,579

(1) Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs such as the National Flood Insurance Program. Includes events that occurred through 2022. All fires on this list occurred in California except Marshall Fire was in Colorado.
Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ranked on losses in 2022 dollars. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2023.
(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	Tubbs (Electrical)	October 2017	Napa & Sonoma	36,807	5,636	22
3	Palisades (3)	January 2025	Los Angeles	20,438	5,316	3
4	Eaton (3)	January 2025	Los Angeles	13,690	5,000+	2
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 January 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	North Complex (Lightning)	August 2020	Butte, Plumas, & Yuba	318,935	2,352	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