# 2016 California wildfires

In 2016, a total of 7,349 fires had burned an area 669,534 acres (2,709.51 km$^2$) in California, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Climatologists had predicted an extreme version of El Niño, known as a Super El Niño, to occur during the winter of 2015–16. Although the Pacific Ocean’s warming water had been expected to bring strong storms to parts of the southwestern United States, actual precipitation totals generally underperformed those expectations. Early in 2016, The National Interagency Fire Center predicted that conditions from May through at least August would put much of the western United States in above-normal wildfire danger.

## Events

In June, the United States Forest Service estimated that over 26 million trees had died across 760,000 acres (310,000 ha) in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This brought the number of dead trees to over 66 million during the past four years of drought.
On August 15, the National Interagency Fire Center showed the state leading the nation in the quantity, size and intensity of wildfires. A day later, on August 16, San Bernardino County announced that nearly 85,000 people were evacuated because of the Blue Cut Fire near Cajon Pass. Authorities arrested a 40-year-old man in connection to the Clayton Fire, and charged him with 17 counts of arson.

## Fires

Below is a list of all fires that exceeded 1,000 acres (400 ha) during the 2016 California wildfire season, as well as the fires that caused significant damage. The information is taken from CAL FIRE's list of large fires, and other sources where indicated.
| Name | County | Acres | Start Date | Containment Date | Notes |
| Roberts | San Luis Obispo | 3,712 | May 18, 2016 | May 20, 2016 | |
| Metz | Monterey | 3,876 | May 22, 2016 | May 25, 2016 | |
| Coleman | Monterey | 2,520 | June 4, 2016 | June 17, 2016 | |
| Pony | Siskiyou | 2,860 | June 7, 2016 | June 30, 2016 | |
| Sherpa | Santa Barbara | 7,474 | June 15, 2016 | July 12, 2016 | |
| Border | San Diego | 7,609 | June 19, 2016 | June 30, 2016 | 2 fatalities, 5 homes and 11 outbuildings destroyed |
| Pine | Ventura | 2,304 | June 19, 2016 | July 17, 2016 | |
| San Gabriel Complex | Los Angeles | 5,399 | June 20, 2016 | July 23, 2016 | Reservoir Fire burned 1,146 acres; Fish Fire burned 4,253 acres |
| Erskine | Kern | 48,019 | June 23, 2016 | July 12, 2016 | 2 fatalities, 285 homes destroyed, 12 damaged |
| Trailhead | Placer | 5,646 | June 28, 2016 | July 18, 2016 | |
| Deer | Kern | 1,785 | July 1, 2016 | July 11, 2016 | |
| Curry | Fresno | 2,944 | July 1, 2016 | July 5, 2016 | |
| Sage | Los Angeles | 1,109 | July 9, 2016 | July 16, 2016 | |
| Roblar | San Diego | 1,245 | July 21, 2016 | July 30, 2016 | |
| Sand | Los Angeles | 41,432 | July 22, 2016 | August 3, 2016 | 2 fatalities, 18 homes destroyed, 4 damaged |
| Soberanes | Monterey | 132,100 | July 22, 2016 | October 12, 2016 | 1 fatality, 3 injuries, 57 homes and 11 outbuildings destroyed. |
| Goose | Fresno | 2,241 | July 30, 2016 | August 9, 2016 | 4 homes, 5 outbuildings destroyed |
| Cold | Yolo | 5,731 | August 2, 2016 | August 12, 2016 | 2 outbuildings destroyed |
| Pilot | San Bernardino | 8,110 | August 7, 2016 | August 16, 2016 | |
| Mineral | Fresno | 7,050 | August 9, 2016 | August 18, 2016 | 2 structures destroyed |
| Chimney | San Luis Obispo | 46,344 | August 13, 2016 | September 6, 2016 | 48 structures destroyed |
| Clayton | Lake | 3,929 | August 13, 2016 | August 26, 2016 | 300 buildings destroyed |
| Blue Cut | San Bernardino | 36,274 | August 16, 2016 | August 23, 2016 | 105 homes, 213 outbuildings destroyed |
| Cedar | Kern | 29,322 | August 16, 2016 | September 30, 2016 | |
| Rey | Santa Barbara | 32,606 | August 18, 2016 | September 16, 2016 | |
| Gap | Siskiyou | 33,867 | August 27, 2016 | September 17, 2016 | |
| Bogart | Riverside | 1,470 | August 30, 2016 | September 2, 2016 | 1 outbuilding destroyed |
| Willard | Lassen | 2,575 | September 11, 2016 | September 22, 2016 | 5 structures destroyed |
| Owens River | Mono | 5,443 | September 17, 2016 | October 15, 2016 | |
| Canyon | Santa Barbara | 12,518 | September 17, 2016 | September 24, 2016 | 1 firefighter killed in crash |
| Sawmill | Sonoma | 1,547 | September 25, 2016 | September 29, 2016 | |
| Marshes | Tuolumne | 1,080 | September 26, 2016 | October 4, 2016 | Burned just north of the Don Pedro Reservoir in the Stanislaus National Forest. Approximately 30 homes were evacuated and two minor injuries were reported. The fire briefly threatened the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System headquarters, but normal water operations continued throughout the fire. The fire was started by a vehicle parked in dry grass along Marshes Flat Road. |
| Loma | Santa Clara | 4,474 | September 26, 2016 | October 12, 2016 | 28 structures destroyed |