2016 California wildfires

2016 California wildfires

A Skycrane makes a drop on the Sherpa Fire in June.
Statistics[1]
Total fires 6,883 (As of October 29)
Total area 563,411 acres (2,280.04 km2)(As of October 29)
Fatalities 6 civilians killed, 1 firefighter (As of August 6)
Season
 2015
2017 

The 2016 California wildfires are a series of wildfires that burned across the state of California during 2016. As of October 29, 2016, 6,883 fires had burned 563,411 acres (2,280.04 km2), according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.[1]

Climatologists had predicted an extreme version of El Niño known as Super El Niño to occur during the winter of 2015–16. Although the Pacific Ocean’s warming water had been expected to bring strong storms to parts of the southwestern United States, actual precipitation totals generally underperformed those expectations.[2] Early in the year, The National Interagency Fire Center predicted that conditions from May through at least August would put much of the western United States in above-normal wildfire danger.[3]

Events

In June, the United States Forest Service estimated that over 26 million trees had died across 760,000 acres (310,000 ha) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This brought the number of dead trees to over 66 million during the past four years of drought.[4]

On August 15, the National Interagency Fire Center showed the state leading the nation in the quantity, size and intensity of wildfires.[4] A day later, on August 16, San Bernardino County announced that nearly 85,000 people were evacuated because of the Blue Cut Fire near Cajon Pass.[5] Authorities arrested a 40-year-old man in connection to the Clayton Fire, and charged him with 17 counts of arson.[4]

Fires

Name County Acres Start Date Contained Date Active? Notes Ref
Roberts San Luis Obispo3,712May 18, 2016May 20, 2016Contained [6]
Metz Monterey3,876May 22, 2016May 25, 2016Contained [7]
Coleman Monterey2,520June 4, 2016June 17, 2016Contained [8]
Pony Siskiyou2,860 June 7, 2016June 30, 2016Contained [9]
Sherpa Santa Barbara7,474June 15, 2016July 12, 2016Contained [10]
Border San Diego7,609June 19, 2016June 30, 2016Contained2 fatalities, 5 homes and 11 outbuildings destroyed [11]
San Gabriel Complex Los Angeles5,399June 20, 2016July 23, 2016ContainedReservoir Fire burned 1,146 acres; Fish Fire burned 4,253 acres[12]
Erskine Kern48,019June 23, 2016July 12, 2016Contained2 fatalities, 285 homes destroyed, 12 damaged[13]
Trailhead Placer5,646June 28, 2016July 18, 2016Contained [14]
Pine Ventura2,304 June 19, 2016July 17, 2016Contained [15]
DeerKern1,785July 1, 2016July 11, 2016Contained [16]
CurryFresno2,944July 1, 2016 July 5, 2016 Contained [17]
SageLos Angeles1,109July 9, 2016July 16, 2016Contained [18]
RoblarSan Diego1,245July 21, 2016July 30, 2016Contained [19]
SandLos Angeles41,432July 22, 2016August 3, 2016Contained2 fatalities, 18 homes destroyed, 4 damaged [20] [21]
SoberanesMonterey 132,100July 22, 2016October 12, 2016Contained1 fatality, 3 injuries, 57 homes and 11 outbuildings destroyed.[22]
GooseFresno2,241July 30, 2016August 9, 2016Contained 4 homes, 5 outbuildings destroyed [23]
ColdYolo5,731August 2, 2016August 12, 2016Contained 2 outbuildings destroyed [24]
PilotSan Bernardino8,110August 7, 2016August 16, 2016Contained [25]
MineralFresno7,050August 9, 2016August 18, 2016Contained 2 structures destroyed [26]
ChimneySan Luis Obispo 46,344August 13, 2016September 6, 2016Contained48 structures destroyed [27]
ClaytonLake3,929August 13, 2016August 26, 2016Contained 189 homes, 109 outbuildings destroyed [28]
Blue CutSan Bernardino36,274August 16, 2016August 23, 2016Contained 105 homes, 213 outbuildings destroyed [29]
CedarKern29,322August 16, 2016September 30, 2016Contained [30]
ReySanta Barbara 32,606August 18, 2016September 16, 2016Contained [31]
GapSiskiyou 33,867August 27, 2016September 17, 2016Contained [32]
BogartRiverside1,470August 30, 2016September 2, 2016Contained 1 outbuilding destroyed [33]
WillardLassen2,575September 11, 2016September 22, 2016Contained 5 structures destroyed [34]
Owens RiverMono5,443September 17, 2016October 15, 2016Contained[35]
CanyonSanta Barbara12,518September 17, 2016September 24, 2016Contained1 firefighter killed in crash[36]
SawmillSonoma1,547September 25, 2016September 29, 2016Contained [37]
MarshesTuolumne1,080September 26, 2016October 4, 2016Contained [38]
LomaSanta Clara4,474September 26, 2016October 12, 2016Contained 28 structures destroyed [39]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Fire Statistics". CAL FIRE. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  2. Blankenbuehler, Paige (June 22, 2016). "El Niño adds fuel to Southwestern fires". The Journal. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  3. Grenoble, Ryan (May 2, 2016). "Here's Where The 2016 Wildfire Season Risk Is The Highest". The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Fears, Darryl (August 16, 2016). "California is in flames right now, with fires fueled by historic drought". Washington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  5. "More than 82,000 people flee Southern California wildfire". Chicago Tribune. August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  6. "Roberts Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  7. "Metz Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  8. "Coleman Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  9. "Pony Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  10. "Sherpa Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
  11. "Border Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
  12. "San Gabriel Complex". InciWeb. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  13. "Erskine Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  14. "Trailhead Fire Updates". CAL FIRE Incident Information. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  15. "Pine Fire". Inciweb. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  16. "Deer Fire Updates". CAL FIRE Incident Information. CAL FIRE. Retrieved July 9, 2016.
  17. "Curry Fire Updates". CAL FIRE Incident Information. CAL FIRE. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  18. "Sage Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  19. "Roblar Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  20. Carr, Ada & Wright, Pam (July 24, 2016). "Body Found As Firefighters Continue to Battle 'Sand Fire' Near Los Angeles; 18 Homes Destroyed". The Weather Channel. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  21. "Sand Fire". Inciweb. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  22. "Soberanes Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  23. "Goose Fire Updates". CAL FIRE Incident Information. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  24. "Cold Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  25. "Pilot Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  26. "Mineral Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  27. "ChimneyFire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  28. "Clayton Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  29. "Blue Cut Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  30. "Cedar Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  31. "Rey Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  32. "Gap Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  33. "Bogart Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
  34. "Willard Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  35. "Owens River Fire". InciWeb. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  36. "Canyon Fire" (PDF). Vandenberg Air Force Base. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
  37. "Sawmill Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  38. "Marshes Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  39. "Loma Fire". CAL FIRE. Retrieved September 28, 2016.

External links

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