California Wildfire Statistics 2025: Timeline and Damage Costs

California’s dry weather, winds, and, at times, ill-preparedness on the part of utility companies, lead to massive wildfires every year.

After a few years of below-average wildfire incidents and/or damage, 2025 started with several blazes in the Los Angeles County Area. These are devastating fires that may set records for destruction and rebuilding costs. The toll is still being calculated.

The damage goes beyond just possessions lost and homes devastated, but it’s one way to compare the most recent wildfires. Cal Fire released a list of the fires that have destroyed the most structures. This is a look at the worst damage from fires over the past 10 years:

• Cal Fire defines structures as homes, outbuildings (barns, garages, sheds, etc.), and commercial properties.
• The 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County claimed the most structures, but more heartbreaking, it also claimed the most lives. The fire took 85 victims before it was extinguished.

What Does It Cost to Recovery from a Wildfire?

Some victims will never fully recover from wildfires. Especially families who have lost a loved one to an out-of-control blaze.

For the toll of wildfires that can be put into financial terms, the 2018 Camp Fire has held the top spot for damages for a while. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) calls it the most expensive fire to date on its list of the costliest fires in California. The dollar loss value of the Camp Fire stands at about $12. 4 billion. Dollar loss value considers the expenses of destroyed property, damaged infrastructure, and other economic damages.

Unfortunately, the Camp Fire record will likely fall in 2025. Several fires, including the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, sparked in Los Angeles and Los Angeles County in January of 2025. The bottom line on financial losses will take a while to calculate, but an ABC News report on January 14 offered an estimate on the L.A. fire damage. Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs experts put the price tag on insured damages at $30 Billion, with another $10 Billion in damages to uninsured property. Other experts predict much more in financial loss.

With figures from the NFPA and estimates on the 2025 fires from ABC News, here is a look at the most expensive fires over the last 10 years in California.

Timeline of Some of the Worst California Wildfires Over the Past 10 Years

• 2015 Butte Fire – Where: Amador County & Calaveras County — Damage: Around 70,000 acres burned. Over 900 structures destroyed. Two casualties. — Cause: Trees falling on PG&E electrical lines
• 2015 Valley Fire – Where: Lake County, Napa County, & Sonoma County — Damage: 76,067 acres burned. 1,955 structures destroyed. 4 casualties. – Cause: CalFire blamed faulty wiring on hot tub
• 2017 Thomas Fire – Where: Ventura County & Santa Barbara County – Damage: Around 282,000 acres burned. Over a thousand structures destroyed. One casualty. — Cause: Investigators determined that Southern California Edison equipment sparked the blaze
• 2017 Rye Fire – Where: Santa Clarita, Los Angeles County — Damage: Around 6,000 acres burned. 6 structures destroyed. No fatalities — Cause: The LA County Fire Department believes a broken guy wire near an SCE substation came in contact with the ground and started the fire.
• 2017 Tubbs Fire (part of the North Bay Fires) – Where: Napa County, Sonoma County, & Lake County — Damage: Nearly 36,000 acres burned. 22 casualties. 5,643 structures destroyed, many in the city of Santa Rosa. Cause: Private electrical system
• 2017 Atlas Fire (part of the North Bay Fires) – Where: Napa County — Damage: 51,057 acres burned. 781 structures destroyed. 2 casualties. — Cause: PG&E equipment
• 2017 Nuns Fire – Where: Shasta & Trinity County — Damage: 54,382 acres burned. 1,355 structures burned. 3 casualties. — Cause: PG&E Powerlines
• 2018 Carr Fire – Where: Shasta County & Trinity County — Damage: 229,651 acres burned. 1,614 structures destroyed. 8 casualties. — Cause: Human. Wheel rim on a flat tire sparked when it hit pavement
• 2018 Mendocino Complex Fires (River Fire & Ranch Fire) – Where: Mendocino County, Lake County, Colusa County, & Glenn County — Damage: Around 460,000 acres burned. 280 structures destroyed. At least one casualty. — Cause: Ranch Fire started when a property owner created sparks while hammering.
• 2018 Camp Fire – Where: Butte County – Damage: Around 153,000 acres burned. Around 18,000 structures destroyed. 86 casualties. — Cause: PG&E Transmission Tower
• 2018 Woolsey Fire – Where: Ventura County – Damage: 97,000 acres burned. 1,600 structures destroyed. Three casualties. Cause: Southern California Edison electrical equipment
• 2019 Kincaid Fire – Where: Sonoma County – Damage: Over 77,000 acres burned. 374 structures destroyed. No casualties. — Cause: PG&E Transmission Line
• 2020 Glass Fire – Where: Napa County & Sonoma County — Damage: 67,484 acres burned. 1,520 structures destroyed. No casualties. — Cause: Undetermined
• 2020 August Complex Fires (Including the Doe and Glade Fires) – Where: Glenn County, Lake County, Mendocino County, Tehama County, Trinity County, & Shasta County — Damage: Over 1 Million acres burned. 935 Structures destroyed. One casualty. – Cause: Lightning
• 2020 North Complex Fires (including the Bear Fire and Claremont Fire) – Where: Plumas County, Butte County & Yuma County – Damage: 319,000 acres burned. Over 2,300 structures destroyed. 15 casualties. — Cause: Lightening
• 2020 LNU LIGHTNING COMPLEX (including the Hennessey Fire) — Where: Napa County, Solano County, Yolo County, Lake County, & Colusa County – Damage: 363,220 acres burned. 1,491structures burned. 6 casualties. — Cause: Lightning & Arson
• 2020 CZU LIGHTNING COMPLEX (including the Warnella and Waddell Fires) – Where: Santa Cruz County & San Mateo County — Damage: 86,509 acres burned. 1,490 structures burned. One casualty. — Cause: Lightning
• 2021 Dixie Fire – Where: Butte County, Plumas County, Lassen County, Shasta County, & Tehama County — Damage: Around 963,000 acres burned. Around 1,300 structures destroyed. One casualty. — Cause: PG&E Electrical distribution lines
• 2021 Caldor Fire – Where: Alpine County, Amador County, & El Dorado County — Damage: 221,774 acres burned. 1,003 structures destroyed. One casualty. – Cause: Under investigation
• 2024 Airport Fires – Where: Orange County & Riverside County — Damage: Over 23,000 acres burned. 160 structures destroyed. No casualties. — Cause: Orange County Public Works crew accidentally started a brush fire while using heavy equipment
• 2025 Palisades Fire – Where: Western Los Angeles and Los Angeles County – Damage: Around 24,000 acres burned at last update. 5,316 structures destroyed as of January 16, 2025. At least 9 tragic deaths reported so far. Cause: Under investigation
• 2025 Eaton Fire – Where: North of Pasadena affecting the Altadena and Sierra Madre communities — Damage: 14,117 acres burned at last update. Around 7,000 structures potentially destroyed as of Jan 16, 2025. 16 casualties reported so far. — Cause: Under investigation

Contact a California Wildfires Lawyer

California is a resilient state with compassionate and strong residents. We will rebuild again. But after a wildfire, homeowners and business owners need all the help they can get to recover. Unfortunately, victims can be left waiting for help needlessly, and not everyone receives the same level of compensation.

Not everyone will need a lawyer to earn support after a devastating wildfire. However, in some cases, a skilled lawyer may be able to help you secure much more than you could by going it alone. A lawyer can often get more for you for house repairs or house replacement, smoke damage clean-up, injury recovery costs, and wrongful death support for families after a tragic fire fatality.

If a power company’s negligence is found to be to blame for your fire losses, we can also help you file a lawsuit and collect full support for your hardships.

Contact Maison Law for a free consultation on your wildfire claim. If we can’t help you earn more than you could earn yourself, we’ll tell you that. However, if you feel we can help you secure more for your recovery, you won’t need any upfront money to hire a lawyer. Our attorneys don’t get paid unless we win your case for you. Then our fee comes out of the settlement money an insurer or a utility company must pay you.