List of wildfires

This is a list of notable wildfires.

Africa

2017 Knysna fires, South Africa
2021 Algeria wildfires
2021 Table Mountain fire, South Africa
2022 Moroccan wildfires
2024 Western Cape wildfires, South Africa
2025 Table Mountain fire, South Africa
Asia

China

1987 – The Black Dragon Fire burnt a total of of forest along the Amur River, with destroyed on the Chinese side alone and spread to the Soviet side.
1996 – Pat Sin Leng wildfire, Tai Po; 5 hikers killed on 10 February.
India
2016 Uttarakhand forest fires
2019 Bandipur forest fires
2020 Uttarakhand forest fires
2020–21 Dzüko Valley wildfires
2021 Simlipal forest fires
Indonesia
1997 Indonesian forest fires
Israel
1989 Mount Carmel forest fire
1995 Jerusalem forest fire
2010 Mount Carmel forest fire – Started on 2 December 2010 and burned of forest, killing 44 people, most of them Israel Prison Service officer cadets, when a bus evacuating them was trapped in flames.
November 2016 Israel wildfires
2021 Israel wildfires
2025 Israel–West Bank fires
Japan
Ōfunato wildfire
Kazakhstan
2022 Kazakhstan wildfires
2023 Kazakhstan wildfires – 14 people died in a series of forest fires caused by lightning in the northeast of the country.
Malaysia
2005 Malaysian haze
Mongolia
2022 Mongolian wildfires
Pakistan
2022 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa wildfires
South East Asia
1997 Southeast Asian haze
2006 Southeast Asian haze
2009 Southeast Asian haze
2010 Southeast Asian haze
2013 Southeast Asian haze
2015 Southeast Asian haze
2016 Southeast Asian haze
2017 Southeast Asian haze
2019 Southeast Asian haze
South Korea
April 2000, Gangwon-do Gangneung wildfire
March 2013, Gyeongsangbukdo Pohang wildfire.
2025 South Korea wildfires
Syria
2020 – Fires in Al-Suwayda Governorate in May, followed by Al-Hasakah Governorate in the summer, then in Latakia and Hama Governorates in September, next in Latakia again, Homs, and Tartus Governorates in October.
Vietnam
2019 Vietnam forest fires
Arctic

According to the WTO in June 2019 arctic wildfires emitted of CO₂. This was more than between 2010 and 2018 combined. Most carbon release was from Alaska and Siberia, but also included other arctic areas e.g., in Canada. In Siberia the temperature was about higher in June 2019 than the average. In Anchorage, Alaska, on 4 July 2019, the temperature was, setting a new all-time record high temperature for the town.

Europe

Croatia

2007 Croatian coast fires, burning.
France
The 1949 Landes Forest Fire burned of forest land and killed 82 people.
2021 France wildfires
2025 wildfire in southern France burns 11,000 hectares.
Germany
In the fire on the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony in August 1975, of heathland burned, killing 5 firefighters.
In May/June 1992 near Weißwasser of forest burned. One firefighter was killed in an accident.
Greece
1985 forest fires burnt 105,000 hectares with the worst affected being around Kavala in eastern Macedonia and Thasos Island in the north Aegean.
2000 forest fires were the worst forest fires to date and included the island of Samos in east Aegean and at Mount Mainalon and eastern Corinthia in the Peloponnese. The burnt area was 167,000 hectares which is the second highest in recent history.
2007 Greek forest fires were by far the worst fires in recent Greek history. Over 270,000 hectares were burnt mostly in the Peloponnese region and southern Evia as well as Mount Parnitha near Athens.
2009 Greek forest fires saw 21,000 hectares burnt around Mount Penteli near Athens.
2018 Greek wildfires were the deadliest in recent history with over 100 deaths in and around the village of Mati near Athens.
2021 Greek wildfires were the worst fires since 2007 with over 125,000 hectares burnt mostly in northern Evia, the Elis region of Peloponnese and around Tatoi near Athens.
2023 Greek wildfires
2024 Greek wildfires
Italy
2021 Italy wildfires
Mediterranean
2009 Mediterranean wildfires in France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey in July.
2022 European and Mediterranean wildfires
Poland
1992:
* 10 August – a fire on the Noteć Forest burned of forest.
* 26 August – Kuźnia Raciborska fire: on a fire in and around Kuźnia Raciborska destroyed of forest and killed two firefighters.
2020: A fire in the Biebrza National Park burned 6,000 ha of forest.
Portugal
August 2003 Wildfires, destroying 10% of Portuguese forests and killing 18 people.
2016 Portugal wildfires
June 2017 Portugal wildfires and October 2017 Portugal wildfires, catastrophic series of fires that trapped and killed more than 100 people.
2018 - wildfires near the city of Portimao.
2024 Portugal wildfires
Russia
July and August 1915 Siberian wildfires fires burned for 50 days and burned about 14 million ha.
1921 Mari wildfires
August 1935 – Kursha-2 settlement was burned out with 1,200 victims.
2003 Russian wildfires – more than, primarily Boreal forest, were burned in southern Siberia from 14 March to 8 August. Direct carbon emissions were around 400-640 TgC.
2010 Russian wildfires – Drought and the hottest summer since records began in 1890 caused many devastating forest fires in European Russia.
2015 Russian wildfires – A series of wildfires in southern Siberia killed 26 people and left thousands homeless.
2018 Russian wildfires
2019 Russian wildfires – were burning as of 2 August according to Russia's Federal Forestry Agency.
2020 Russian wildfires
2021 Russian wildfires
2022 Siberian wildfires
2024 Russian wildfires
Spain
17 July 2005 – Guadalajara province – a forest fire caused by an improperly extinguished barbecue burned and killed 11 firefighters. The environmental councilor of Castilla-La Mancha, Rosario Arévalo, resigned from her position as a result.
2016 Benidorm forest fire – burnt more than and destroyed at least 20 homes.
June 2019 – burning near Tarragona.
2019 Canary Islands wildfires
2023 Tenerife wildfire
Turkey
2009 Mediterranean wildfires
2020 Turkish wildfires
2021 Turkish wildfires
Sweden
2014 Västmanland wildfire – a forest fire with 1 verified death.
2018 Sweden wildfires
Ukraine
Wildfire near Kreminna, 1996 – around 70 km²
Wildfire in Kherson Oblast, 2007 – more than 87.5 km²
2020 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone wildfires – 470 km²
United Kingdom
May 2011 – Swinley Forest fire, Berkshire, England. Fire appliances from 12 counties attended over several days due to the large area of the fire. The fire service incident log for the call was over 500 pages long.
2018 United Kingdom wildfires
2019 United Kingdom wildfires
Cannich wildfire
North America

Canada and the United States

From 2007 to 2017, wildfires burned an average of per year in the U.S. and Canada, respectively.
† Indicates a currently burning fire

Year	Size	Name	Area	Notes
1825		1825 Miramichi fire	New Brunswick	Killed between 160 and 300 people.
1845		The Great Fire	Oregon
1865		The Silverton Fire	Oregon
1853		The Yaquina Fire	Oregon
1868		The Coos Fire	Oregon
1870		Saguenay Fire	Quebec
1871		Peshtigo Fire	Wisconsin	Killed between 1,200 and 2,500 people and has the distinction of being the conflagration that caused the most deaths by fire in United States history. It was overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same day.
1871		Great Michigan Fire	Michigan	Overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire that occurred on the same day.
1876		Bighorn Fire	Wyoming
1881		Thumb Fire	Michigan	Killed 282 people.
1889		Santiago Canyon Fire	California
1894		Great Hinckley Fire	Minnesota	Killed 418+ people and destroyed 12 towns.
1898			South Carolina
1902		Yacolt Burn	Washington and Oregon	65+ deaths, plus 20 other fire events from 1910 - 1952.
1903		Adirondack Fire	New York
1908	64,000 acres	1908 Fernie Fire	British Columbia	Town of Fernie, BC destroyed. 22 casualties reported. Cause: logging slash.
1910		Great Fire of 1910	Idaho and Montana	87 people killed and several towns destroyed across north Idaho and western Montana. ~2,000 separate blazes burned an area the size of Connecticut in what is believed to have been the largest fire in recorded U.S. history up to that point, although it has since been exceeded by the 2011 Texas wildfires and the 2020 California wildfires.
1911		Great Porcupine Fire	Ontario	Killed between 73 and 200 people.
1916		Great Matheson Fire	Ontario	Killed 223 people according to official figures, and destroyed several towns, Cochrane burnt again after just five years.
1918		Cloquet Fire	Minnesota and Wisconsin	Killed 453 people.
1919	5,000,000 acres	Great Fire of 1919	Alberta and Saskatchewan	Spanning from Lac La Biche, AB to almost Prince Albert, SK. Village of Lac La Biche destroyed. 300+ people homeless. An estimated $200,000 in property damage. Cause: drought, high winds, lightning. Forest Fire area burned is an estimation.
1922		Great Fire of 1922	Ontario	Killed 43 people and burnt through 18 townships in the Timiskaming District.
1923		Giant Berkeley Fire	California	Leveled 50 city blocks, destroying 624 buildings.
1933		1933 Griffith Park Fire	California	Killed 29 firefighters and injured more than 150 people.
1933		Tillamook Burn	Oregon
1935		Big Scrub Fire	Florida	The fire spread at, the fastest spreading fire in US Forest Service history.
1937		Blackwater Creek Fire	Wyoming	Killed 15 firefighters.
1947		Great Fires of 1947	Maine	A series of fires that lasted ten days; 16 people killed. Destroyed part of Bar Harbor and damaged Acadia National Park.
1949		Mann Gulch fire	Montana	12 firefighters who parachuted near the fire and 1 forest ranger died after being overtaken by a 200-foot wall of fire at the top of a gulch near Helena, Montana.
1950		Chinchaga Fire	British Columbia and Alberta	Largest single North American fire on record. The B.C. portion was just 90,000 ha.
1953		Rattlesnake Fire	California	Killed 15 firefighters. Well known textbook case used to train firefighters.
1958		Kech Fire	British Columbia	Largest wildfire in BC history until the 2017 Plateau Fire of 521,012 hectares.
1961		Bel Air Fire	California	484 homes destroyed and ~112 injuries.
1963		Black Saturday Fire	New Jersey	400 buildings destroyed and 7 people killed.
1970		Laguna Fire	California	382 homes destroyed and 8 people killed.
1977		Marble Cone Fire	California	Vandenberg Air Force Base, 4 people killed, including the base commander, and two fire chiefs.
1983		Swiss Fire	British Columbia	Houston, British Columbia, destroyed 7 residences.
1985		Allen Fire	North Carolina	Nearly 93,000 acres of forest, wetlands and farmland burned in northeastern North Carolina in one of the biggest fires in modern state history.
1987		Siege of 1987	California and Oregon	Cause: large lightning storm in late August. The storm started roughly 1,600 new fires, most caused by dry lightning.
1988		Yellowstone fires of 1988	Wyoming and Montana	Never controlled by firefighters; only burned out when a snowstorm hit.
1989	8,105,000 acres	The Manitoba Fires	Manitoba	1,147 wildfires in central and northern Manitoba in the spring & summer. 24,500 people evacuated from 32 communities. Over 100 homes destroyed. Worst fire season in province's history. Cause: severe drought, human and natural ignition sources.
1990		Painted Cave Fire	California	1 death and 430 buildings burned in this arson fire near Santa Barbara.
1991		Oakland Hills firestorm	California	Killed 25 and destroyed 3,469 homes and apartments within the cities of Oakland and Berkeley.
1993		Laguna Beach Fire	California	Destroyed 441 homes, burned 14,337 acres causing $528,000,000 in damage.
1994		South Canyon Fire	Colorado	Killed 14 firefighters.
1995		Mount Vision Fire	California	45 homes destroyed.
1996		Miller's Reach Fire	Alaska	Most destructive wildfire in Alaska history. 344 structures destroyed.
1998		1998 Florida wildfires	Florida	4,899 fires, burned 342 homes, and $390 million worth of timber was lost.
1998	14,800 acres	Silver Creek Fire	British Columbia	Immediately southwest of Salmon Arm, BC. Cause: lightning. Approximately 7,000 people evacuated. Over 40 buildings destroyed. Cost over $10,000,000 to extinguish.
1999		Big Bar Complex Fire	California	Started August.
2000		Cerro Grande Fire	New Mexico	Burned about 420 dwellings in Los Alamos, New Mexico, damaged >100 buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory; $1 billion damage.
2001		Thirtymile Fire	Washington	Killed 4 firefighters.
2002		Ponil Complex Fire	New Mexico	Also called the Philmont fire.
2002		Mt. Zirkel Complex Fire	Colorado	Started August.
2002		Rodeo–Chediski Fire	Arizona	Threatened, but did not burn the town of Show Low, Arizona.
2002		Hayman Fire in Pike National Forest	Colorado	1 civilian and 5 firefighter deaths, 600 structures fires.
2002		Florence/Sour Biscuit Complex Fire	Oregon	$150 million to suppress.
2003		Aspen Fire	Arizona	Destroyed large portions of Summerhaven, Arizona.
2003		Okanagan Mountain Park Fire	British Columbia	Displaced 45,000 inhabitants, destroyed 239 homes and threatened urbanized sections of Kelowna.
2003		B&B Complex fires	Oregon	Burned along the crest of the Cascade Mountains between Mount Washington and Mount Jefferson including within the Mount Jefferson Wilderness.
2003		Old Fire	California	993 homes destroyed, 6 deaths. Simultaneous with the Cedar fire.
2003		Cedar Fire	California	Third largest recorded fire in modern California history; burned 2,232 homes and killed 15 in San Diego County.
2004		Taylor Complex Fire	Alaska	Largest wildfire by acreage of 1997–2007 time period.
2006		Esperanza Fire	California	Arson-caused wildfire that killed 5 firefighters and destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings.
2006		Day Fire	California	1 residence burned, no casualties.
2007		Sweat Farm Road/Big Turnaround Complex Fire	Georgia	Largest recorded fire in Georgia history. 26 structures were lost.
2007		Florida Bugaboo Fire	Florida	Largest fire on record in Florida.
2007		Warren Grove Fire	New Jersey	Forest fire in the New Jersey Pine Barrens caused by a flare from an F-16 jet. Destroyed 4 homes, damaged 53 homes, injured 2.
2007		Milford Flat Fire	Utah	Largest fire on record in Utah.
2007		Murphy Complex Fire	Idaho and Nevada
2007		Zaca Fire	California	Started July. Second largest California fire at the time after the Cedar fire of 2003.
2007		October 2007 California wildfires	California	A series of wildfires that killed 9 people and injured 85. Burned at least 1,500 homes from the Santa Barbara County to the U.S.–Mexico border.
2008		Evans Road Wildfire	North Carolina	Peat fire started on 1 June by lightning strike during North Carolina's drought – the worst on record.
2008		2008 California wildfires	California	In northern California, the fires were mostly started by lightning. In Santa Barbara, the Gap fire endangered homes and lives. The Basin Complex and Gap fire were the highest priority fires in the state at this time.
2009		Highway 31 Fire	South Carolina	Brush fire in Myrtle Beach, the most destructive fire in terms of loss in state history. Destroyed 76 homes and damaged 97.
2009		Brittany Triangle Fire	British Columbia	Also known as the Lava Canyon fire, this was the largest fire in BC in 2009. Started on 31 July by lightning, this fire made news when it threatened a wild horse population.
2010		Binta Lake Fire	British Columbia	BC's largest blaze of 2010, resulted in evacuation orders and alerts. Burned 70,000 acres in a 12-hour period.
2011		Wallow Fire	Arizona and New Mexico	The largest fire in Arizona state history. In one 24-hour burn period, it consumed 77,769 acres of forest land.
2011		Bastrop County Complex Fire	Texas	The worst fire in Texas state history, destroyed over 1,500 homes.
2011		Richardson Backcountry Fire	Alberta	The largest Canadian fire since 1950.
2011		Las Conchas Fire	New Mexico	Third largest fire in New Mexico state history. 63 homes lost. Threatened Los Alamos National Laboratory.
2011		Slave Lake Wildfire	Alberta	Burned through Slave Lake, Alberta, Canada and its surrounding area from 14 May through 16 May. The fire destroyed roughly one-third of Slave Lake and cost $1.8 billion.
2011		2011 Texas wildfires	Texas	Wildfires began in November 2010 and continued to rage due to a severe drought that lasted 271 months. 47.3% of all acreage burned in the United States in 2011 was burned in Texas. Firefighters came from over 43 states to assist, with 2 losing their lives. The Governor of Texas declared a State of Disaster on 21 December 2010, and renewed the proclamation monthly. On 16 April 2011, President Obama was asked to declare a state of emergency in 252 of the 254 counties after approximately 2,000,000 acres had burnt. On 1 July 2011, the request was partially granted.
2012		Whitewater–Baldy complex Fire	New Mexico	Second-largest wildfire in New Mexico state history. Began in the Gila Wilderness as two separate fires that converged, both started by lightning. Destroyed 12 homes in Willow Creek, NM.
2012		Little Bear Fire	New Mexico	Second-most destructive wildfire in New Mexico state history. Began in the Lincoln National Forest and was started by lightning.
2012		High Park Fire	Colorado	Started by lightning, it is the second largest wildfire in Colorado state history by size.
2012		Waldo Canyon Fire	Colorado	Rampart Range and West Colorado Springs with 346 homes destroyed primarily in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, it is the second most destructive fire in state history. Two fatalities reported.
2012		Ash Creek Fire	Montana
2012		Long Draw Fire and Miller Homestead Fire	Oregon	Oregon's largest fire in 150 years.
2012		Mustang Complex Wildfire	Idaho
2012		Rush Fire	California and Nevada
2013		Black Forest Fire	Colorado	North of Colorado Springs, the Black Forest fire was a large, fast-spreading fire due to dry conditions, high heat, and restless winds. Destroyed 509 homes and left 17 homes partially damaged. As of 13 June, it became the most destructive fire in Colorado state history.
2013		Yarnell Hill Fire	Arizona	19 firefighters killed on 30 June.
2013		Quebec Fire	Quebec	Over 300 evacuated.
2013		Rim Fire	California	Occurred in Yosemite National Park. Biggest wildfire on record in the Sierra Nevada, and fourth largest wildfire in California history. Started 17 August and was contained on 24 October.
2013		Beaver Creek Fire	Idaho	Started June.
2014		Carlton Complex Fire	Washington	4 wildfires merged to become the largest single wildfire in Washington state history.
2014		2014 Northwest Territories fires	Northwest Territories	Said to have been the largest set of wildfires in 30 years in the Northwest Territories. Total cost of firefighting was between C$55 and C$56 million compared to the normal budget C$7.5 million. There were no reported deaths.
2015		Okanogan Complex	Washington	The largest wildfire complex in Washington state history.
2016		Anderson Creek Fire	Kansas and Oklahoma	Largest wildfire in Kansas history.
2016		Fort McMurray Wildfire	Alberta and Saskatchewan	Largest fire evacuation in Alberta history. Over 2,400 homes and buildings destroyed. Costliest disaster in Canadian history.
2016		2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires	Tennessee	Began in late November 2016. It significantly impacted the towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, both near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The fires claimed at least 14 lives, injured 190, and is one of the largest natural disasters in the history of Tennessee.
2016		August 2016 Western United States wildfires	California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming
2017		2017 British Columbia wildfires	British Columbia	The 2017 BC fire season is notable for three reasons: first, for the largest total area burnt in a fire season in recorded history; second, for the largest number of total evacuees in a fire season ; and third, for the largest single fire ever in British Columbia.
2017		2017 Montana wildfires	Montana	Contained by rain and snow by mid-September.
2017		October 2017 Northern California wildfires	California	The October northern California wildfires were a large group of forest fires that killed 44 people and destroyed 8,900 structures.
2017		Thomas Fire	California	Largest wildfire in modern California history at the time. Spread fast due to strong winds and unusual dry weather in December.
2017		Goodwin Fire	Arizona	Shut down parts of Highway 69 between Mayer and Dewey-Humboldt. The fire destroyed 5 homes and damaged 2 more.
2018		2018 British Columbia wildfires	British Columbia	Initial estimates put 2018 as the largest total burn-area in any British Columbia wildfire season, surpassing the historic 2017 wildfire season.
2018		Spring Creek Fire	Colorado	Started June.
2018		Mendocino Complex Fire	California	229 structures destroyed, 2 reported deaths.
2018		Carr Fire	California	1,604 structures destroyed, 8 reported deaths.
2018		Woolsey Fire	California	1,643 structures destroyed, 3 fatalities, 5 injuries.
2018		Camp Fire	California	18,804 structures destroyed, 85 confirmed deaths, 2 missing, 17 injured, deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California to date.
2020		2020 Colorado wildfires	Colorado	Low-end estimate of burned acreage based on Inciweb since May in Colorado. The state's worst fire season on record. The season of the Hayman Fire saw 360,000 acres burn - which was the previous record holder.
2020		Bighorn Fire	Arizona	Started June south of Phoenix.
2020		Bush Fire	Arizona	Started June near Theodore Roosevelt Lake just north of Phoenix.
2020		Evans Canyon Fire	Washington	Started in September near Yakima, WA.
2020		Palmer Fire	Washington	Started September in northern Washington near Canada.
2020		Mullen Fire	Colorado and Wyoming	Started in September near Laramie and spread to Jackson County, Colorado by October. The fire forced evacuations in Wyoming and northern Colorado.
2020		August Complex Fire	California	Largest wildfire in California history. This fire was divided into three zones: the August Complex North Zone, the August Complex South Zone, and the August Complex West Zone due to the enormous size.
2020		2020 Oregon wildfires	Oregon	Destroyed over 3,000 buildings, and killed at least 10 people.
2020	4,420,301 acres	2020 California wildfires	California	Largest California wildfire season in recorded history.
2022		Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire	New Mexico	Largest and most destructive wildfire in the recorded history of New Mexico.
2023	45,700,000 acres	2023 Canadian wildfires	Canada	Largest Canadian wildfire season in recorded history.
2023	14,000+ acres	2023 Hawaii wildfires	Hawaii	Deadliest wildfire in recorded Hawaii history, referred to as worst natural disaster in history of Hawaii by Governor Josh Green.
2023		Matt's Creek Fire	Virginia
2024	1,100,000 acres	Smokehouse Creek Fire	Texas and Oklahoma	Large wildfire in the Texas panhandle region, largest in Texas history.
2024		Park Fire	California	Largest fire caused by arson in California
2024		Coffee Pot Fire	California	Injured 3 firefighters.
2025	57,636 acres	Southern California wildfires	California	At least twenty-eight people have died, and more than 18,189+ structures destroyed or damaged.

August 2016 Western United States Wildfires - California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming were affected with evacuations taking place in Oregon, Nevada and Wyoming.

List of wildfires

Africa

Asia

China

India

Indonesia

Israel

Japan

Kazakhstan

Malaysia

Mongolia

Pakistan

South East Asia

South Korea

Syria

Vietnam

Arctic

Europe

Croatia

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Mediterranean

Poland

Portugal

Russia

Spain

Turkey

Sweden

Ukraine

United Kingdom

North America

Canada and the United States