The worst wildfires in California history

Much of Los Angeles remains burning as this month's wildfires continue to wreak destruction on America's second-largest city. The Eaton Fire in Altadena has killed at least 17 people, while the Palisades Fire has burned 24,000 acres and destroyed almost the entire neighborhood of the Pacific Palisades. More than 12,300 structures across Los Angeles have been destroyed, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

But while the January fires rank as the most destructive in Los Angeles history, they have not been as damaging as others in the Golden State. They are among only some of the worst wildfires California has ever seen.

Camp Fire (2018)

The 2018 Camp Fire ranks as the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in California history. Located in the state's northern Butte County, the Camp Fire burned over 150,000 acres. In the nearby town of Paradise, residents "were hit from three sides by massive walls of fire," and "thousands of homes and businesses were lost in the matter of a couple of hours. A town of some 26,000 people was utterly destroyed," said the Butte County website.

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The fire killed 85 people, and it was determined that the inferno was "caused by the failure of a worn and neglected piece of Pacific Gas & Electric equipment on a transmission tower," said The Associated Press.

Tubbs Fire (2017)

The Tubbs Fire, also in Northern California, targeted parts of Lake, Sonoma and Napa Counties. It is remembered for its quickness; in four hours, the blaze "vaulted the seemingly insurmountable barrier of Highway 101 — six lanes, plus median and shoulders — before it laid waste to the city neighborhood of Coffey Park," said The Press Democrat. By the next day, more than 3,000 homes had been destroyed.

The fire caused 22 deaths in the state's wine country, destroying 5,600 structures in total. It was later revealed that the cause of the fire was a "private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure," said NBC News.

Palisades / Eaton Fires (2025)

The ongoing fires in Los Angeles are the worst in the city's history. In the Pacific Palisades, more than "1,200 commercial and residential structures have been destroyed," and the 24,000-acre fire has "wreaked havoc across 36 square miles, transforming entire communities into piles of ash," said USA Today. The Eaton blaze, targeting Altadena, has burned 14,000 acres, according to Cal Fire, and has destroyed large swaths of the area north of Pasadena.

The blazes remain largely uncontained, and 27 people have died in five total L.A. fires, with thousands forced to flee. A "preliminary estimate of the total damage and economic loss" is "between $135 billion and $150 billion," according to AccuWeather.

August Complex Fire (2020)

Started by lightning strikes in the forests of Northern California, the August Complex Fire is the largest wildfire in California history by area, covering more than 1 million acres. It burned 935 structures and was deemed a "gigafire," a "term for a blaze that burns at least a million acres of land and a level above the 'megafire,' which burns more than 100,000 acres," said CNN.

One person died in the fire, and infernos this size are becoming increasingly common. California's wildfires have "increased in size eightfold since the 1970s, and the annual area burned by fires has increased by nearly 500%," said CNN.

Dixie Fire (2021)

Less than a year after the August Complex blaze, Northern California was hit with the Dixie Fire, which at 963,309 acres was the "largest single fire in California history," said the National Park Service. It is also the second-largest wildfire in the state overall after the August Complex inferno.

One person died in the Dixie Fire, which, as with all other California wildfires, resulted in a massive price tag; insurers paid out $2.88 billion in losses, according to Reuters.