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However, from a historical perspective, it has been estimated that prior to 1850, about 4.5 million acres (17,000 km 2) burned yearly, in fires that lasted for months, with wildfire activity peaking roughly every 30 years, when up to 11.8 million acres (47,753 km 3) of land burned.
2020 was a record-setting year for wildfires in California. Over the course of the year, 8,648 fires burned 4,304,379 acres (1,741,920 ha), [1] [2] more than four percent of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history.
This early spike in activity was primarily from wind-driven grass fires, more than 30 of which occurred on several days in mid-June with low humidity, high temperatures, and strong winds. [5] The first and only wildfire fatality of the year in California occurred on July 8, when the Mina Fire burned a home. [6]
Flames illuminate the night sky as a wildfire burns across a hillside in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 7, 2025. The most destructive fires in Los Angeles history kill at least five ...
Since 2014, the 10-year average number of acres burned by wildfires each year in California roughly doubled, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Another analysis from ClimaMeter estimated that the weather conditions in the region when the wildfires begun were "up 5°C warmer, 3 mm/day (up to 15%) drier, and up to 5 km/h (up to 20%) windier" during the years 1987–2023 in comparison to the years 1950–1986.
The apocalyptic and deadly wildfires ravaging Southern California remain extremely volatile as another day of a critical fire weather threat grips much of Los Angeles County.
From January 7 to 31, 2025, a series of 14 destructive wildfires affected the Los Angeles metropolitan area and San Diego County in California, United States. [5] The fires were exacerbated by drought conditions, low humidity, a buildup of vegetation from the previous winter, and hurricane-force Santa Ana winds, which in some places reached 100 miles per hour (160 km/h; 45 m/s).