By the end of 2015 a total of 8,745

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

s were recorded across the state of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, burning . Approximately 3,159 structures were damaged or destroyed by wildfires, and at least 7 fatalities were recorded. On September 11, after the

Butte Fire The Butte Fire was a rapidly moving wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 9 in Amador County, California, Amador County, California. The fire burned . The fire started at 2:26 P.M. on Wednesday, Septem ...

exploded from a size of to , in the Amador and Calaveras counties,

Governor Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected secretary of ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

Nationwide fire season

The

National Interagency Fire Center The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho, is an American physical facility which is the home to the National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC) and the National Multi-Agency Coordination Group (NMAC or MAC). The center w ...

reported in mid-August that the 2015 fire season had been the most destructive since

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Nationwide, a total of had burned, which is roughly triple the total land area burned from the same time span in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. By the end of August, in terms of the land area burned, the 2015 nationwide wildfire season had surpassed any other wildfire season in the last 10 years, with burned.

Fatalities

The season also proved to be a deadly one for

firefighters A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

battling the many blazes throughout the state. A

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

member from

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

died on July 31 from

carbon monoxide poisoning Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as " flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large ...

, while battling the

Frog Fire The Frog Fire was a fatal fire that occurred during the 2015 California wildfire season that burned of land in the Modoc National Forest. The fire was one of many fires that was started on July 30 during a lightning storm. Fatality On July 3 ...

in the

Modoc National Forest Modoc National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Northeastern California. Geography The Modoc National Forest protects parts of Modoc County, California, Modoc (82.9% of acreage), Lassen County, California, L ...

. A second firefighter was killed on August 8 by a falling tree, while battling the Sierra Fire south of

Echo Summit Echo Summit is a mountain pass over the Sierra Nevada in the western United States, located in eastern El Dorado County, California. At above sea level, it is the highest point on U.S. Route 50 in California, which traverses it at postmile 6 ...

. A 72-year-old disabled woman was killed in her home by the fast-moving

Valley Fire The Valley Fire was a wildfire during the 2015 California wildfires, 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 12 in Lake County, California. It began shortly after 1:00 pm near Cobb, California, Cobb with multiple reports of a ...

List of wildfires

Below is a list of all fires that exceeded during the 2015 California wildfire season, as well as the fires that caused significant damage. The information is taken from

CAL FIRE The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various are ...

's list of large fires, and other sources where indicated.

Gallery of maps

File:2015 Rocky Fire map.png, Rocky Fire File:2015 Rough Fire map 1.png,

Rough Fire The Rough Fire was a major wildfire in Fresno County, California, and the largest of the 2015 California wildfire season. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on July 31 and burned , largely in the Sierra National Forest and the Sequoia N ...

File:2015 Butte Fire map.png,

References

External links