The 2014 King Fire was a large wildfire in

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

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 ...

, which burned primarily in the Eldorado National Forest. The wildfire started on September 13, 2014, near Pollock Pines, California, to the east of

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. The ensuing fire suppression effort, which cost more than $100 million and engaged more than 8,000 personnel at its peak, allowed for the full containment of the King Fire by October 9, 2014. Despite the size and ferocity of the fire, it caused no deaths. Eighty structures were destroyed, the majority of them outbuildings. The King Fire was determined to have been caused by an act of arson and a suspect was swiftly apprehended and convicted in 2016.

Background

Much of the Eldorado National Forest where the King Fire burned had no recent fire history. The last major wildfire there had been the Cleveland Fire in 1992, which burned roughly .

Progression

The King Fire began on Saturday, September 13, 2014. It was ignited by an act of arson along King of the Mountain Road—from which the fire got its name—in Pollock Pines, a small community along

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

in the western Sierra Nevada between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. On September 16, three days after starting, the fire had spread to , forcing the evacuation of over five hundred homes. A handcrew of ten inmates and a fire captain were saved from being overrun when they were led to safety by a helicopter that was staged at the nearby Swansboro Country Airport. On September 17, the fire underwent a rapid expansion, pushing forward and burning an additional . Firebrands and embers created spot fires more than downwind of the main fire. California governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in El Dorado County, citing the fire's threat to water and power infrastructure. By September 18, the fire had expanded to , becoming the second largest wildfire of the 2014 California wildfire season. By the start of October the fire had grown to with containment increasing to 94%. On October 9, the perimeter of the King Fire was reported to be 100% contained, with a final acreage of . The U.S. Forest Service calculated the total cost of fighting the King Fire at approximately $117 million.

Cause

The firefighters first on scene detected multiple points of origin for the King Fire, leading the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office to swiftly conclude that arson had been the cause. Within days, witnesses came forward and disclosed that they had encountered Wayne Huntsman, a Pollock Pines resident and former inmate firefighter, near the scene of the fire's origin. Huntsman had told two of them "You better get home. Your house is going to burn down." After being given a ride near the fire, Huntsman had shown another man a '

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph or a short video, typically taken with an electronic camera or smartphone. The camera would be usually held at arm's length or supported by a selfie stick instead of being controlled with a self-timer ...

' video of himself in the forest, surrounded by flames. The man recorded Huntsman's video and submitted the information to authorities. On September 18, 2014, Wayne Huntsman was arrested on suspicion of intentionally starting the fire. He initially pled not guilty to the charges, but in April 2016 pled guilty to arson. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence, and ordered to pay $60 million in restitution by an El Dorado County Superior Court judge.

Effects

The King Fire injured a total of twelve people. It destroyed 12 residences and 68 other structures.

Closures and evacuations

The King Fire threatened hydroelectric infrastructure and recreation areas throughout the Sierra Nevada west of Tahoe. The U.S. Forest Service closed trails to the Desolation Wilderness from the Eldorado National Forest on September 11. The total number of evacuees reached 2,830.

Environmental impacts

The King Fire produced copious amounts of smoke, pushing parts of Placer, El Dorado,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, and Amador counties into unhealthy-to-hazardous ranges of PM2.5

air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...

. Officials temporarily deployed emergency air-quality sensors throughout the Sierra.

Growth and containment

Gallery

File:King Fire, California.jpg, alt=A true-color satellite imager from directly above eastern California and western Nevada shows a plume of thick gray smoke streaming northeast from the King Fire, The King Fire as captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite on September 17 File:King fire, 2014 Sep 19, Landsat 8 false-color infrared.jpg, alt=The King Fire stands out as a jagged red slice of forest, southwest of Lake Tahoe, The King Fire as captured by NASA’s

Landsat 8 Landsat 8 is an American Earth observation satellite launched on 11 February 2013. It is the eighth satellite in the Landsat program and the seventh to reach orbit successfully. Originally called the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), it i ...

satellite on September 19: "In the false-color image, burned forest appears red; unaffected forests are green; cleared forest is beige; and smoke is blue"

References

{{2014 California wildfires 2014 California wildfires September 2014 crimes in the United States Wildfires in El Dorado County, California California wildfires caused by arson