List of forest fires
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of notorious forest fires:
Contents |
[edit] North America
| Year | Size | Name | Area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1825 | 3,000,000 acres (12150 km²) | Miramichi Fire | New Brunswick | Killed 160 people. |
| 1846 | 450,000 acres (1,800 km²) | Yachina Fire | Oregon | |
| 1853 | 320,000 acres (1,300 km²) | Nestucca Fire | Oregon | |
| 1865 | 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²) | Silverton Fire | Oregon | Worst recorded fire in state's history |
| 1868 | 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) | Coos Fire | Oregon | |
| 1871 | 1,200,000 acres (4900 km²) | Peshtigo Fire | Wisconsin | Overshadowed by the Great Chicago Fire occurring the same day |
| 1876 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) | Bighorn Fire | Wyoming | |
| 1881 | 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²) | Thumb Fire | Michigan | Killed 250+ people |
| 1889 | 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) | Great Fire of 1889 | California | Largest fire in recorded California history |
| 1894 | 160,000 acres (650 km²) | Hinckley Fire | Minnesota | Killed 418 people and destroyed 12 towns |
| 1903 | 450,000 acres (1,800 km²) | Adirondack Fire | New York | |
| 1910 | 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km²) | Great Fire of 1910 | Idaho-Montana | Killed 86 people |
| 1911 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) | Cochrane Fire | Ontario | Killed 73 people |
| 1916 | Cochrane-Matheson Fire | Ontario | Killed 228 (U.O. 400+) people and destroyed both towns, the former burnt again after just five years. | |
| 1918 | 100,000 acres (400 km²) | Cloquet Fire | Minnesota-Wisconsin | Killed between 400 and 500 people |
| 1933 | 240,000 acres (970 km²) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1939 | 190,000 acres (769 km²) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1945 | 180,000 acres (730 km²) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1947 | 175,000 acres (710 km²) | Unnamed | Maine | A series of fires that lasted ten days; 16 people killed |
| 1948 | 645,000 acres (2,580 km²) | Mississagi/Chapleau fire | Ontario | |
| 1949 | 4,500 acres (18 km²) | Mann Gulch fire | Montana | Killed 13 firefighters |
| 1950 | 17,000 acres (69 km²) | Capitan Gap fire | New Mexico | |
| 1951 | 38,000 acres (154 km²) | Great Forks Fire | Washington | |
| 1951 | 32,700 acres (130 km²) | Tillamook Burn | Oregon | Swept through the same region of Oregon four times |
| 1953 | 1,300 acres (5.3 km²) | Rattlesnake Fire | California | Killed 15 firefighters. Well known textbook case used to train firefighters. |
| 1970 | 175,425 acres (710 km²) | Laguna Fire | California | 382 homes destroyed and 8 people killed; the second largest fire in the state's history until the Cedar Fire |
| 1988 | 800,000 acres (3,200 km²) | Yellowstone National Park fires | Wyoming-Montana | |
| 1991 | 1,520 acres | Oakland Hills firestorm | California | Killed 25 and destroyed 3469 homes and apartments within the cities of Oakland and Berkeley |
| 1994 | South Canyon fire | Colorado | Killed 14 firefighters | |
| 1998 | 300,000 acres (1,200 km²) | Unnamed | Florida | 2200 fires, during drought season; burned 150 homes, $390 million timber lost, 80,000 evacuees, $133 million in fire suppression costs |
| 2000 | 48,000 acres (190 km²) | Cerro Grande Fire | New Mexico | Burned about 420 dwellings in Los Alamos, New Mexico, damaged >100 buildings at Los Alamos National Laboratory; $1 billion damage, worst fire in state's recorded history |
| 2000 | Mesa Verde National Park fire | Colorado | ||
| 2002 | 467,066 acres (1,890 km²) | Rodeo-Chediski fire | Arizona | Threatened, but did not burn the town of Show Low, Arizona |
| 2002 | 137,760 acres (557.5 km²) | Hayman Fire in Pike National Forest | Colorado | 9 firefighter deaths, 600 structures fires |
| 2002 | 499,570 acres (2,000 km²) | Florence/Sour Biscuit Complex Fire | Oregon | |
| 2003 | 84,750 acres (343 km²) | Aspen Fire | Arizona | Destroyed large portions of Summerhaven, Arizona |
| 2003 | 500,000 acres (2,000 km²) | Okanagan Mountain Park Fire | British Columbia | Displaced 45,000 inhabitants, destroyed 239 homes and threatened urbanized sections of Kelowna. |
| 2003 | 91,281 acres (369.4 km²) | Old Fire | California | 993 homes destroyed, 6 deaths. Simultaneous with the Cedar Fire (below) |
| 2003 | 280,278 acres (1,134 km²) | Cedar Fire | California | Second-largest fire in California history; burned 2,232 homes and killed 14 in San Diego County. Simultaneous with 15 other fires in Southern California (including the Old Fire, above) covering 721,791 acres (2,920 km²), killing 24, displacing 120,000 and destroying 3,640 homes. Damage from combined fires estimated at 2 billion USD (See NASA images: [1] [2]) |
| 2006 | 40,200 acres | Esperanza Fire | California | 10 buildings destroyed, 5 firefighters killed. The blaze started on October 26th and scorched 40,200 acres, or more than 60 square miles, of forest and brush before being fully contained October 30th. It destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings. |
[edit] In Australia
- Black Friday Bushfires of 1939 (South Australia) (Country Fire Service)
- Black Sunday Bushfires of 1955 (South Australia)
- Dwellingup fires of 1961 (Western Australia)
- Ash Wednesday fires of 1980 and 1983 (Victoria and South Australia) (Country Fire Service,Country Fire Authority)
- 1994 Eastern seaboard fires
- The November 1997 fire in the Sydney area (New South Wales Rural Fire Service)
- Sydney forest fires in 2001-2002
- Canberra bushfires of 2003
- Black Tuesday bushfires of 2005 (Eyre Peninsula South Australia)
[edit] In Europe
[edit] Poland
- Kuźnia Raciborska Fire in Poland, burned 90.62 km² of forest and killed three people (including two firefighters) on August 26, 1992.
[edit] Greece
- Penteli Fire in Greece affected in June and July, 1995 in the Penteli mountains and lasted for almost the weekend from Friday.
- 1998 forest fires in Greece, a series of forest fores affected the Athens area, Avlona, Taygetus and Olympus mountains and other places. The fire began in the beginning of the summer season.
- 2000 forest fires in Greece, a series of forest fires affected Greece including Agioi Theodoroi and eastern Corinthia at the beginning of July 2000
- 2005 East Attica Fire in Greece - Forest fires ravaged East Attica on July 28, 2005 from Agia Triada Rafinas to west of Rafina. The fires began at around 11:00 (EET) (8:00 AM GMT) consuming 70 km² of forests, properties and farmlands. The fire spread quickly after a few hours with winds of up to 55 to 70 km/h and spread near the suburban housings of Athens near Rafina causing dense smoke. The fire reached Kallitechnio and the settlements by around 3:30 (EET) and devastated homes leaving some people homeless and evacuated people in areas around Agia Triada Rafinas, Agia Kyriaki Rafinas, Kallitechnio, Loutsa, Neos Vourtzas and the Rafina area mostly on the hillside areas. Pine trees were devastated. Firefighters didn't put out the blaze until the winds calmed down around 5:00 (EET). It took hundreds of fire trucks, firefighters, planes, 65 firefighting helicopters from all over the surrounding areas and most of Greece to put out the blaze. A stretch of Marathonos Avenue became closed.
- July 29, 2005 - a day after the enormous Attica fire, another series of fires occurred throughout Greece, entirely in Preveza including Monolithi consuming properties and a campground, Ioannina and Xiromeni of Aitoloakarnania.
[edit] Italy and France
- 2000 fires in Southern Europe in July 2000 consumed forests and buildings in southern France, parts of Iberia, Corsica, and most of Italy including the southern part during the heatwave dominating southern Europe with 40 to 45°C temperatures caused the phenomena.
[edit] Spain
- July 17, 2005 - Guadalajara province, Spain, a 130 km² forest fire and 11 dead firefighters. Regional responsible of Department of the Environment out of post because of this deadly toll. A barbecue sparked deadly blazes.
[edit] In South America
[edit] In Asia
[edit] Indonesia
Forest fires in Indonesia occurred annually. When there is a weather pattern disturbance because of strong El Niño, the number and the distribution of forest fires in Indonesia increased significantly. When there is a weather pattern disturbance because of strong La Niña, the number and the distribution of forest fire in Indonesia decreased. An El Nino is usually followed by La Nina on the following year. The strength of disturbance is determined by Southern oscillation index. Large forest fire in Indonesia because of strong El Nino:
- 1982 and 1983 - Massive forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra. 36,000 km² (8.9 million acres) of forest burned down. There are other forest fires in Java and Sulawesi on the same year.
- In 1987, 1991 and 1994, there were large scale forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi in Indonesia. More than 3,300 km² (815,453 acres) of forest were destroyed by forest fire.
- 1997 and 1998 - Colossal, unprecedented forest fires in Kalimantan and East Sumatra. 97,000 km² (24.1 million acres) of forest were destroyed, more than 2.6 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide was released to the atmosphere. The underground smouldering fire on the peat bogs continue to burn and ignite new forest fire each year during dry season. There are other forest fires in Java and Sulawesi on the same year.
- From 1999 to 2005: there was annual forest fires in Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi. Every year, forest are burned by farmers, plantation owners and continuous underground fire (since 1997). 1,345 km² (332,357 acres) of forest were destroyed by forest fire.
