2018 California wildfires

2018 California wildfires
1 2 3 4 5 1 Garner Complex 2 Natchez Fire 3 Carr Fire 4 Mendocino Complex Fire 5 Ferguson Fire An August 1, 2018, satellite image of the wildfires burning in Northern California and Southern Oregon; smoke can be seen trailing northeastward over Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Idaho
Statistics[1][2][3]
Total fires	8,527
Total area	1,975,086 acres (799,289 ha)
Impacts
Deaths	97 civilians and 6 firefighters[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Non-fatal injuries	At least 80
Structures destroyed	24,226
Damage	>$26.347 billion (2018 USD) (Costliest on record)[13][14][15][16][17]
Map
A map of wildfires in California in 2018, using Cal Fire data
Season
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The 2018 wildfire season was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire season in California history. It was also the largest on record at the time, now third after the 2020 and 2021 California wildfire seasons.^[18][19][20] In 2018, there were a total of 103 confirmed fatalities, 24,226 structures damaged or destroyed, and 8,527 fires burning 1,975,086 acres (799,289 ha), about 2% of the state's 100 million acres of land. Through the end of August 2018, Cal Fire alone spent $432 million on operations.^[21] The catastrophic Camp Fire alone killed at least 85 people, destroyed 18,804 buildings and caused $16.5 billion in property damage, while overall the fires resulted in at least $26.347 billion in property damage and firefighting costs,^{[13][15][16][17][14]} including $25.4 billion in property damage and $947 million in fire suppression costs.^[13][14]

In mid-July to August 2018, a series of large wildfires erupted across California, mostly in the northern part of the state. On August 4, 2018, a national disaster was declared in Northern California, due to the extensive wildfires burning there.^[22]

The Carr Fire in July and August 2018 caused more than $1.5 billion (2018 USD) in property damage.^{[17][23][24][25]} The Mendocino Complex Fire burned more than 459,000 acres (186,000 ha), becoming the largest complex fire in the state's history at the time, with the complex's Ranch Fire surpassing the Thomas Fire and the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 to become California's single-largest recorded wildfire.^[26][27] In September 2020, the August Complex surpassed the Mendocino Complex to become California's single-largest recorded wildfire.^[28]

In November 2018, strong winds aggravated conditions in another round of large, destructive fires that occurred across the state. This new batch of wildfires included the Woolsey Fire and the Camp Fire. The Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise and killed at least 85 people, with 1 still unaccounted for as of August 2, 2019.^[29] The Camp Fire destroyed more than 18,000 structures, becoming both California's deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record. AccuWeather estimated the total economic cost of the 2018 wildfires at $400 billion (2018 USD), which includes property damage, firefighting costs, direct and indirect economic losses, as well as recovery expenditures.^[30] Another study, published two years after the fires, estimated the total damages at $148.5 billion, including capital losses, health costs and indirect losses.^[31]