2020 California wildfires

2020 California wildfires
Statistics
Total fires	6,871
Total area	728,909 acres (294,979 ha)
Cost	Unknown
Fatalities	2
Non-fatal injuries	5
Season
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Aurora Fire

The 2020 California wildfire season is a series of wildfires that are burning across the state of California. The peak of the wildfire season usually occurs between August and November when hot, dry winds are most frequent. The wildfire season typically does not end until the first significant rainstorm of winter arrives, which is usually around October in Northern California, and roughly between late October to December in Southern California. As of August 16, 2020, a total of 6,871 fires have burned 728,909 acres (294,979 ha) according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

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 caused by moisture from Tropical Storm Fausto. Response and evacuations were complicated by a historic heatwave and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The governor declared a state of emergency on August 18.

Early outlook

Early in the year, there was a concern for the potential 2020 fire season to be prolonged and especially grave due to the unusually dry months of January and February which were recorded as one of the driest first two months of any calendar year on record. On March 22, a state of emergency was declared by California governor Gavin Newsom due to a mass die-off of trees throughout the state, potentially increasing the risk of wildfires. Throughout March and April, rain began to consistently fall in the state which lessened the severe drying conditions. However, Northern California was expected to have severe wildfire conditions due to the moderate or severe drought conditions in the area, whereas Central and Southern California were expected to have serious fire conditions later in the year due to the late wet season and precipitation.

Wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties.

Name	County	Acres	Start date	Containment date	Notes	Ref
Interstate 5	Kings	2,060	May 3	May 7
Range	San Luis Obispo	5,000	May 27	May 28
Scorpion	Santa Barbara	1,395	May 31	June 1
Quail	Solano	1,837	June 6	June 10	3 structures destroyed
Wood	San Diego	11,000	June 8	June 12	Burned on Camp Pendleton
India	San Diego	1,100	June 8	June 14	Burned on Camp Pendleton
Soda	San Luis Obispo	1,672	June 10	June 11	2 structures destroyed
Grant	Sacramento	5,042	June 12	June 17
Walker	Calaveras	1,455	June 16	June 20	2 structures destroyed
River	San Luis Obispo	15	June 22	June 23	2 structures destroyed, 9 damaged
Grade	Tulare	1,050	June 22	June 26
Pass	Merced	2,192	June 28	June 30
Bena	Kern	2,900	July 1	July 3
Crews	Santa Clara	5,513	July 5	July 13	1 structure destroyed; 1 damaged; 1 injury. Resulted in evacuations of rural Gilroy.
Soledad	Los Angeles	1,525	July 5	July 15	1 injury
Mineral	Fresno	29,667	July 13	July 26	7 structures destroyed
Coyote	San Benito	1,508	July 15	July 18
Hog	Lassen	9,564	July 18	August 8	2 structures destroyed
Gold	Lassen	22,634	July 20	August 8	13 structures destroyed; 5 structures damaged; 2 firefighters injured in burnover
July Complex 2020	Modoc, Siskiyou	83,261	July 22	August 7	1 structure destroyed; 3 outbuildings destroyed
Red Salmon Complex	Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity	16,255	July 26	38% Contained as of August 20	Originally started as both the Red and Salmon fire (both started by lightning strikes), but have since merged into one fire
Apple	Riverside	33,424	July 31	95% Contained as of August 14	4 structures destroyed; 8 outbuildings destroyed; 1 firefighter injured
Pond	San Luis Obispo	1,962	August 1	August 8	1 structure destroyed; 1 damaged; 13 outbuildings destroyed
North	Lassen	6,882	August 2	August 10	6,882 acres in total, of which approximately 4,105 acres burned in Washoe County, Nevada
Stagecoach	Kern	7,760	August 3	August 16	23 structures destroyed; 4 damaged; 25 outbuildings destroyed; 2 damaged; 1 firefighter fatality
Lake	Los Angeles	27,041	August 12	48% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, 12 structures destroyed; 3 damaged; 21 outbuildings destroyed
Ranch2	Los Angeles	4,237	August 13	33% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
Loyalton	Lassen, Plumas, Sierra	46,617	August 15	38% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, Caused National Weather Service to issue first ever Fire Tornado Warning; 5 homes, 6 outbuildings destroyed
Hills	Fresno	1,500	August 15	35% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
River	Monterey	33,653	August 16	7% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, 4 injuries
Dome	San Bernardino	43,273	August 16	74% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, Burned in the Mojave National Preserve
Beach	Mono	3,780	August 16	80% Contained as of August 19	Lightning strike
SCU Lightning Complex	Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, Stanislaus	137,475	August 16	5% Contained as of August 20	Deer Zone, Marsh, Canyon Zone and other surrounding fires combined into one multi-fire incident by CalFire; all believed to have been sparked by an intense and widespread lightning strike
August Complex	Mendocino	116,372	August 16	3% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strikes started 35 fires, several of which grew to large sizes, especially the Doe Fire
LNU Lightning Complex	Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Yolo	131,000	August 17	0% Contained as of August 20	Multi-fire incident that includes the Hennessey Fire, Gamble Fire, 15-10 Fire and several other small fires sparked by lightning strike; 105 structures destroyed, 70 damaged
Holser	Ventura	3,000	August 17	30% Contained as of August 19	Lightning strike
Butte Lightning Complex	Butte	1,900	August 17	20% Contained as of August 20	Lightning sparked 34 fires throughout Butte County
North Complex	Plumas	8,600	August 17	0% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, Largest fires are the Sheep Fire (7,000 acres) and the Claremont Fire (1,500 acres); 1 injury
CZU August Lightning Complex	San Mateo, Santa Cruz	40,000	August 17	0% Contained as of August 20	Several lightning strike-sparked fires burning close together across San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties;20 structures destroyed, 3 injuries
Salt	Calaveras	1,789	August 18	35% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
W-5 Cold Spring	Lassen	4,952	August 18	20% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
Carmel	Monterey	4,285	August 18	0% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike, 3 structures destroyed
Elkhorn	Tehama	15,250	August 19	0% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
Dolan	Monterey	6,700	August 19	0% Contained as of August 20	Lightning strike
Ivory	Glenn	4,000	August 19	0% Contained as of August 19	Lightning strike
Woodward	Marin	1,500	August 19	0% Contained as of August 20	1,500 structures threatened

See also

• Climate change in California
• List of California wildfires

External links

• Current fire information — California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE)