49er Fire

49er Fire
Flames appear behind a firefighting vehicle during the 49er Fire
Date(s)	September 11, 1988 (1988-09-11) – September 16, 1988 (1988-09-16) (6 days)
Location	Nevada County & Yuba County, California, United States
Coordinates	39°19′41″N 121°06′40″W / 39.328°N 121.111°W / 39.328; -121.111
Statistics
Burned area	33,700 acres (13,638 ha; 53 sq mi; 136 km2)
Impacts
Deaths	0
Non-fatal injuries	≥500
Evacuated	≥8,000
Structures destroyed	312
Damage	$29.1 million (equivalent to about $64.7 million in 2023)
Ignition
Cause	Burning debris
Map
The fire burned southwest from Highway 49 in a two-pronged arc over several days, crossing both the Yuba River and Highway 20.
The 49er Fire burned in California's Nevada and Yuba counties, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

The 49er Fire was a destructive wildfire in 1988 in California's Nevada County and Yuba County. The fire was ignited on September 11 when a man accidentally set brush on fire by burning toilet paper near Highway 49. Driven by severe drought conditions and strong, dry winds, firefighting crews were hard-pressed to stop the fire's advance until winds calmed and humidity levels recovered. The fire burned 33,700 acres (13,600 hectares) throughout the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, impinging on the communities of Lake Wildwood, Rough and Ready, and Smartsville before officials declared it fully contained on September 16.

The 49er Fire destroyed 312 structures, including more than 140 homes, making it the most destructive wildfire in Nevada County's history and—at the time—one of the five most destructive wildfires in recorded Californian history. It was also the seventh most expensive California wildfire in terms of losses, which amounted to approximately $23 million. The 49er Fire fire highlighted the rapid pace and potential consequences of development in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), and was sometimes called the 'wildfire of the 1990s' by state officials in an effort to raise awareness of the growing challenges of firefighting in areas where human structures intermingle with wildland fuels.