2015 California wildfires

2015 California wildfires

Smoke from the 2015 California wildfires as seen from space, on August 18, 2015
Statistics[1]
Total fires 8,745
Total area 893,362 acres (3,615 km2)
Injuries At least 1
Fatalities 2 firefighters and 7 civilians killed
Season
← 2014
2016 →

The 2015 California wildfires were a series of wildfires that burned across the state of California during 2015, in which 8,745 fires burned a total area of 893,362 acres (3,615 km2).[1]

On September 11, with the Butte Fire exploding from a size of 32,000 acres (129 km2)[2] to 65,000 acres (263 km2), in the Amador and Calaveras counties, Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency.[3]

Nationwide fire season

The National Interagency Fire Center reported in mid-August that the 2015 fire season had been the most destructive since 2011. Nationwide, a total of 6,058,694 acres (24,519 km2) had burned, which is roughly triple the total land area burned from the same time span in 2014.[4] By the end of August, in terms if the land area burned, the 2015 nationwide wildfire season had surpassed any other wildfire season in the last 10, years with 7,825,559 acres (31,669 km2) burned.[5]

Fatalities

The season also proved to be a deadly one for firefighters battling the many blazes throughout the state. A United States Forest Service member from South Dakota died July 31 of carbon monoxide poisoning while battling the Frog Fire in the Modoc National Forest.[6] A second firefighter was killed on August 8 by a falling tree, while battling the Sierra Fire south of Echo Summit.[7] A 72-year-old handicapped woman was killed in her home by the fast moving Valley Fire.[8]

Fires

Name County Acres Km2 Start Date Contained Date Notes Ref
Round Inyo7,000 28.3February 6, 2015February 12, 2015 [9]
Highway Riverside1,049 4.2April 18, 2015April 24, 2015 [10]
LakeSan Bernardino31,359 126.9June 17, 2015August 1, 2015 [11]
Park HillSan Luis Obispo1,791 7.2June 20, 2015June 24, 2015 [12]
NorthSan Bernardino4,250 17.2July 17, 2015July 21, 2015 7 houses and 44 vehicles destroyed[13]
RoughFresno151,623 613.6July 31, 2015November 5, 2015 [14]
Frog Lassen4,863 19.7July 30, 2015August 20, 2015 1 firefighter killed[15]
Humboldt LightningHumboldt4,883 19.8July 30, 2015August 19, 2015 [16]
Mad River ComplexHumboldt73,137 296.0July 30, 2015September 13, 2015 includes Route Complex Fire [17]
DodgeLassen10,570 42.8August 3, 2015August 17, 2015 [18]
Wragg Napa8,051 32.6July 22, 2015August 6, 2015 [19]
RockyLake69,438 281.0July 29, 2015 August 14, 2015 [20]
Fork ComplexShasta36,503 147.7July 30, 2015November 3, 2015 [21][22]
River ComplexTrinity77,081 311.9July 30, 2015October 29, 2015 [23]
GasquetDel Norte30,361 122.9August 3, 2015October 15, 2015 Fires: Feeder (100%), Coon (100%),
Bear (100%) and Peak (100% containment) 		[24]
JerusalemLake and Napa25,118 101.6August 9, 2015August 25, 2015 [25]
CabinGlendora1,723 7.0August 14, 2015November 20, 2015 5 structures destroyed [26]
CuestaSan Luis Obispo2,446 9.9August 16, 2015August 28, 2015 [27]
TeslaAlameda2,700 10.9August 19, 2015August 22, 2015 [28]
ButteAmador70,868 286.8September 9, 2015 October 1, 2015 2 civilians fatalities
475 residences & 343 outbuildings destroyed 		[29]
ValleyLake76,067 307.8September 12, 2015October 6, 2015 4 civilian fatalities, 1958 structures destroyed [30]
TassajaraMonterey1,086 4.4September 19, 2015September 27, 2015 1 civilian fatality[31]
SolimarVentura1,388 5.6December 25, 2015December 29, 2015 1 minor ankle injury[32][33]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2015 Wildfires in California.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Report of Wildland Fires and Acres Burned by State 2015" (PDF). National Interagency Fire Center. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Helsel, Phil (September 11, 2015). "California Town of 2,700 Warned Ahead of Explosive Wildfire". NBC News. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ Serna, Joseph; Rocha, Veronica (September 11, 2015). "Brown declares state of emergency in 65,000-acre Gold Country fire". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ Pydynowski, Kristina (August 10, 2015). "Heart of Already Busy California Wildfire Season is Yet to Come". AccuWeather. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Year to date totals". National Interagency Fire Center. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  6. ↑ Locke, Cathy (August 4, 2015). "Firefighter at Frog fire died of carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation, autopsy shows". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  7. ↑ Rocha, Veronica (August 9, 2015). "Firefighter, 21, Is 2nd Killed Battling Northern California Wildfires". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  8. ↑ Kurtis Alexander; Kale Williams; Evan Sernoffsky (September 14, 2015). "Worry to horror: A caretaker's desperate attempt to get help for fire victim". SF Gate. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Round Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Highway FIre". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Lake Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Park Hill Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ "North Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Rough Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Frog Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Humboldt Lightning Fires". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Mad River Complex Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Dodge Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Wragg Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Rocky Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Fork Complex Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  22. ↑ Fire areas reopened on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
  23. ↑ "River Complex Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Gasquet Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  25. ↑ "Jerusalem Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Cabin Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Cuesta Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Tesla Fire". CALFIRE. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  29. ↑ "Butte Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Valley Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Tassajara Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  32. ↑ |https://mobile.twitter.com/VCFD_PIO/status/680864261585813504
  33. ↑ "Solimar Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved 26 December 2015.

External links

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