ZACA Fire 3rd largest fire in modern California history

Sunday, August 19, 2007

ZACA Fire 3rd largest fire in modern California history

Notable California wildfires by size

Historic fire #1 - Great Fire of 1889 (800,000 acres) Facts Disputed

The Zaca 2 Fire is now officially 188,035 acres

Edit 8-20-07: Zaca 2 fire 214,725
Edit 8-21-07: Zaca 2 fire 220,863 acres
Edit 8-25-07: Zaca 2 fire 238,968 acres

2nd largest fire in California History

Would the Zaca Fires have two places on the list? Zaca Fire and Zaca Fire 2?

20 Largest California Wildland Fires
(By *Acreage Burned)
This list is from CAL FIRE website: PDF File

FIRE NAME/CAUSE DATE COUNTY ACRES STRUCTURES DEATHS

1 CEDAR (HUMAN) October 2003 SAN DIEGO 273,246 4,847 15
2 MATILIJA (UNDETERMINED) September 1932 VENTURA 220,000 0 0
3 MARBLE CONE (LIGHTNING) July 1977 MONTEREY 177,866 0 0
4 LAGUNA (POWERLINES) September 1970 SAN DIEGO 175,425 382 5
5 DAY FIRE (HUMAN) September 2006 VENTURA 162,702 11 0
6 MCNALLY (HUMAN) July 2002 TULARE 150,696 17 0
7 STANISLAUS COMPLEX (LIGHTNING) August 1987 TUOLUMNE 145,980 28 1
8 BIG BAR COMPLEX (LIGHTNING) August 1999 TRINITY 140,948 0 0
9 ZACA (HUMAN) July 2007 SANTA BARBARA 127,244 1 0
10 CAMPBELL COMPLEX (POWERLINES) August 1990 TEHAMA 125,892 27 0
11 WHEELER (ARSON) July 1985 VENTURA 118,000 26 0
12 SIMI (UNDER INVESTIGATION) October 2003 VENTURA 108,204 300 0
13 HWY. 58 (VEHICLE) August 1996 SAN LUIS OBISPO 106,668 13 0
14 CLAMPITT (POWERLINES) September 1970 LOS ANGELES 105,212 86 4
15 BAR COMPLEX (LIGHTNING) July 2006 TRINITY 100,414 0 0
16 WELLMAN (EQUIP. USE) June 1966 SANTA BARBARA 93,600 0 0
17 OLD (HUMAN) October 2003 SAN BERNARDINO 91,281 1,003 6
18 KIRK (LIGHTNING) September 1999 MONTEREY 86,700 0 0
19 REFUGIO (MISC. - STRUCTURE) September 1955 SANTA BARBARA 84,770 20 0
20 FORK (UNDETERMINED) August 1996 LAKE 82,980 40 0

CAL FIRE PUBLISH DATE: 8/16/2007

The cost of this fire is also setting records to date: $81.7 million which exceeds all years total emergency suppression fund cost for the entire years 1996 and prior...
The total yearly emergency suppression budget for last year was estimated at $105.3 million.
*source

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States. CDF - CAL FIRE Firefighters answer the call more than 300,000 times a year. CAL FIRE Firefighters make up the fire department for 30 of our 58 counties in California and more than 100 local communities. We serve as the incident command during many of California’s most serious disasters. CAL FIRE Firefighters respond to many various types and forms of calls ranging from structural fires, to auto accidents, to earthquakes, to floods, to the spilling of hazardous materials, to every conceivable disaster; CAL FIRE answer's the calls. CAL FIRE is the largest fire department in California and the second largest fire department in the United States . CAL FIRE firefighters protect 33 million acres of State Responsibility Area (SRA). We have over 4,000 members within CAL FIRE and CAL FIRE is associated with the California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF).

CFN - CALIFORNIA FIRE NEWS - CAL FIRE NEWS

Sunday, August 19, 2007