This layer, in combination with Watershed_Based_Tier2, FHSZ_for_HHZ and firep24_1_2021_2024_100ac, was used to generate the HighHazardZones25_1_Tier2 dataset. This layer was also used as an input for the 22_3 version of HHZ.

Tier 2 High Hazard Zones Fire Perimeters: As of 2020, Tier 2 also includes wildfire perimeters from 2012 forward. Starting with 2021, only fires over 100 acres are added to this layer. This layer represents the 2012-2020 portion, sourced from fire21_2. Although the extent of fire perimeters was not limited to State25_1 in this feature class, it was limited to the extent of State25_1 prior to being incorporated into HighHazardZones25_1_Tier2.

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Emergency Declaration: On October 30, 2015 Governor Brown issued an emergency declaration requiring public agencies to identify areas of tree mortality that hold the greatest potential to result in wildfire and/or falling trees and threaten people and property in these areas. Once identified, these areas will be prioritized for removal of dead and dying trees that present a threat to public safety. https://www.caloes.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/Legal-Affairs/Documents/Proclamations/20151030-Tree_Mortality_State_of_Emergency.pdf

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The following metadata is from the original database for fire history. It provides a reasonable view of the spatial distribution of past large fires. Due to missing perimeters (see Use Limitations) this layer should be used carefully for statistical analysis and reporting. Please contact the CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program for a detailed explanation of the limitations of the data.

Version Information

The data is updated annually with fire perimeters from the previous calendar year.

Firep24_1 was released in April 2025. Five hundred forty-eight fires from the 2024 fire season were added to the database (2 from BIA, 56 from BLM, 197 from CAL FIRE, 193 from Contract Counties, 27 from LRA, 8 from NPS, 55 from USFS and 8 from USFW). Six perimeters were added from the 2025 fire season (as a special case due to an unusual January fire siege). Five duplicate fires were removed, and the 2023 Sage was replaced with a more accurate perimeter. There were 900 perimeters that received updated attribution (705 removed “FIRE” from the end of Fire Name field and 148 replaced Complex IRWIN ID with Complex local incident number for COMPLEX_ID field). The following fires were identified as meeting our collection criteria but are not included in this version and will hopefully be added in a future update: Addie (2024-CACND-002119), Alpaugh (2024-CACND-001715), South (2024-CATIA-001375). One perimeter is missing containment date that will be updated in the next release.

Cross checking CALFIRS reporting for new CAL FIRE submissions to ensure accuracy with cause class was added to the compilation process. The cause class domain description for “Powerline” was updated to “Electrical Power” to be more inclusive of cause reports.

If you would like a full briefing on these adjustments, please contact the data steward, Kim Wallin (kimberly.wallin@fire.ca.gov), CAL FIRE FRAP.

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CAL FIRE (including contract counties), USDA Forest Service Region 5, USDI Bureau of Land Management, & National Park Service, and other agencies jointly maintain a fire perimeter GIS layer for public and private lands throughout the state. The data covers fires back to 1878. This dataset may differ in California compared to that available from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) due to different requirements between the two datasets.

Current criteria for data collection are as follows:

CAL FIRE (including contract counties) submit perimeters ≥10 acres in timber, ≥50 acres in brush, or ≥300 acres in grass, and/or ≥3 damaged/ destroyed residential or commercial structures, and/or caused ≥1 fatality in State Responsibility Area (SRA).

All cooperating agencies submit perimeters ≥10 acres in Federal Responsibility Area (FRA).

Note: Occasionally perimeters from Local Responsibility Areas (LRA) are submitted, but there are currently no requirements set in place for those to be collected.

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Discrepancies between wildfire perimeter data and CAL FIRE Redbook Large Damaging Fires:

Large Damaging fires in California were first defined by the CAL FIRE Redbook, and has changed over time, and differs from the definition initially used to define wildfires required to be submitted for the initial compilation of this digital fire perimeter data.

In contrast, the definition of fires whose perimeter should be collected has changed once in the approximately 30 years the data has been in existence. Below are descriptions of changes in data collection criteria used when compiling these two datasets.

To facilitate comparison, this metadata includes a summary, by year, of fires in the Redbook, that do not appear in this fire perimeter dataset. It is followed by an enumeration of each “Redbook” fire missing from the spatial data.

Wildfire Perimeter criteria:

~1991: 10 acres timber, 30 acres brush, 300 acres grass, damages or destroys three residence or one commercial structure or does $300,000 worth of damage

2002: 10 acres timber, 50 acres brush, 300 acres grass, damages or destroys three or more structures, or does $300,000 worth of damage

~2010: 10 acres timber, 30 acres brush, 300 acres grass, damages or destroys three or more structures (doesn’t include out building, sheds, chicken coops, etc.).

Large and Damaging Redbook Fire data criteria:

1979: Fires of a minimum of 300 acres that burn at least: 30 acres timber or 300 acres brush, or 1500 acres woodland or grass

1981: 1979 criteria plus fires that took ,3000 hours of California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection personnel time to suppress

1992: 1981 criteria plus 1500 acres agricultural products, or destroys three residence or one commercial structure or does $300,000 damage

1993: 1992 criteria but “three or more structures destroyed” replaces “destroys three residence or one commercial structure” and the 3,000 hours of California Department of Forestry personnel time to suppress is removed

2006: 300 acres or larger and burned at least: 30 acres of timber, or 300 acres of brush, or 1,500 acres of woodland, or 1,500 acres of grass, or 1,500 acres of agricultural products, or 3 or more structures destroyed, or $300,000 or more dollar damage loss.

2008: 300 acres and larger

Year: # of Missing Large and Damaging Redbook Fires

1979: 22

1980: 13

1981: 15

1982: 6

1983: 3

1984: 20

1985: 52

1986: 12

1987: 56

1988: 23

1989: 8

1990: 9

1991: 2

1992: 16

1993: 17

1994: 22

1995: 9

1996: 15

1997: 9

1998: 10

1999: 7

2000: 4

2001: 5

2002: 16

2003: 5

2004: 2

2005: 1

2006: 11

2007: 3

2008: 43

2009: 3

2010: 2

2011: 0

2012: 4

2013: 2

2014: 7

2015: 10

2016: 2

2017: 11

2018: 6

2019: 2

2020: 3

2021: 0

2022: 0

2023: 0

Total: 488

Enumeration of fires in the Redbook that are missing from Fire Perimeter data.

Three letter unit code follows fire name.

1979 - Sylvandale (HUU), Kiefer (AEU), Taylor(TUU), Parker#2(TCU), PGE#10, Crocker(SLU), Silver Spur (SLU), Parkhill (SLU), Tar Springs #2 (SLU), Langdon (SCU), Truelson (RRU), Bautista (RRU), Crocker (SLU), Spanish Ranch (SLU), Parkhill (SLU), Oak Springs(BDU), Ruddell (BDF), Santa Ana (BDU), Asst. #61 (MVU), Bernardo (MVU), Otay #20

1980 - Lightning series (SKU), Lavida (RRU), Mission Creek (RRU), Horse (RRU), Providence (RRU), Almond (BDU), Dam (BDU), Jones (BDU), Sycamore (BDU), Lightning (MVU), Assist 73, 85, 138 (MVU)

1981 - Basalt (LNU), Lightning #25(LMU), Likely (MNF), USFS#5 (SNF), Round Valley (TUU), St. Elmo (KRN), Buchanan (TCU), Murietta (RRU), Goetz (RRU), Morongo #29 (RRU), Rancho (RRU), Euclid (BDU), Oat Mt. (LAC & VNC), Outside Origin #1 (MVU), Moreno (MVU)

1982 - Duzen (SRF), Rave (LMU), Sheep’s trail (KRN), Jury (KRN), Village (RRU), Yuma (BDF)

1983 - Lightning #4 (FKU), Kern Co. #13, #18 (KRN)

1984 - Bidwell (BTU), BLM D 284,337, PNF #115, Mill Creek (TGU), China hat (MMU), fey ranch, Kern Co #10, 25,26,27, Woodrow (KRN), Salt springs, Quartz (TCU), Bonanza (BEU), Pasquel (SBC), Orco asst. (ORC), Canel (local), Rattlesnake (BDF)

1985 - Hidden Valley, Magic (LNU), Bald Mt. (LNU), Iron Peak (MEU), Murrer (LMU), Rock Creek (BTU), USFS #29, 33, Bluenose, Amador, 8 mile (AEU), Backbone, Panoche, Los Gatos series, Panoche (FKU), Stan #7, Falls #2 (MMU), USFS #5 (TUU), Grizzley, Gann (TCU), Bumb, Piney Creek, HUNTER LIGGETT ASST#2, Pine, Lowes, Seco, Gorda-rat, Cherry (BEU), Las pilitas, Hwy 58 #2 (SLO), Lexington, Finley (SCU), Onions, Owens (BDU), Cabazon, Gavalin, Orco, Skinner, Shell, Pala (RRU), South Mt., Wheeler, Black Mt., Ferndale, (VNC), Archibald, Parsons, Pioneer (BDU), Decker, Gleason(LAC), Gopher, Roblar, Assist #38 (MVU)

1986 - Knopki (SRF), USFS #10 (NEU), Galvin (RRU), Powerline (RRU), Scout, Inscription (BDU), Intake (BDF), Assist #42 (MVU), Lightning series (FKU), Yosemite #1 (YNP), USFS Asst. (BEU), Dutch Kern #30 (KRN)

1987 - Peach (RRU), Ave 32 (TUU), Conover (RRU), Eagle #1 (LNU), State 767 aka Bull (RRU), Denny (TUU), Dog Bar (NEU), Crank (LMU), White Deer (FKU), Briceburg (LMU), Post (RRU), Antelope (RRU), Cougar-I (SKU), Pilitas (SLU) Freaner (SHU), Fouts Complex (LNU), Slides (TGU), French (BTU), Clark (PNF), Fay/Top (SQF), Under, Flume, Bear Wallow, Gulch, Bear-1, Trinity, Jessie, friendly, Cold, Tule, Strause, China/Chance, Bear, Backbone, Doe, (SHF) Travis Complex, Blake, Longwood (SRF), River-II, Jarrell, Stanislaus Complex 14k (STF), Big, Palmer, Indian (TNF) Branham (BLM), Paul, Snag (NPS), Sycamore, Trail, Stallion Spring, Middle (KRN), SLU-864

1988 - Hwy 175 (LNU), Rumsey (LNU), Shell Creek (MEU), PG&E #19 (LNU), Fields (BTU), BLM 4516, 417 (LMU), Campbell (LNF), Burney (SHF), USFS #41 (SHF), Trinity (USFS #32), State #837 (RRU), State (RRU), State (350 acres), RRU), State #1807, Orange Co. Asst (RRU), State #1825 (RRU), State #2025, Spoor (BDU), State (MVU), Tonzi (AEU), Kern co #7,9 (KRN), Stent (TCU)

1989 - Rock (Plumas), Feather (LMU), Olivas (BDU), State 1116 (RRU), Concorida (RRU), Prado (RRU), Black Mt. (MVU), Vail (CNF)

1990 - Shipman (HUU), Lightning 379 (LMU), Mud, Dye (TGU), State 914 (RRU), Shultz (Yorba) (BDU), Bingo Rincon #3 (MVU), Dehesa #2 (MVU), SLU 1626 (SLU)

1991 - Church (HUU), Kutras (SHF)

1992 - Lincoln, Fawn (NEU), Clover, fountain (SHU), state, state 891, state, state (RRU), Aberdeen (BDU), Wildcat, Rincon (MVU), Cleveland (AEU), Dry Creek (MMU), Arroyo Seco, Slick Rock (BEU), STF #135 (TCU)

1993 - Hoisington (HUU), PG&E #27, Hall (TGU), state, assist, local (RRU), Stoddard, Opal Mt., Mill Creek (BDU), Otay #18, Assist/ Old coach (MVU), Eagle (CNF), Chevron USA, Sycamore (FKU), Guerrero, Duck

1994 - Schindel Escape (SHU), blank (PNF), lightning #58 (LMU), Bridge (NEU), Barkley (BTU), Lightning #66 (LMU), Local (RRU), Assist #22 & #79 (SLU), Branch (SLO), Piute (BDU), Assist/ Opal#2 (BDU), Local, State, State (RRU), Gilman fire 7/24 (RRU), Highway #74 (RRU), San Felipe, Assist #42, Scissors #2 (MVU), Assist/ Opal#2 (BDU), Complex (BDF), Spanish (SBC)

1995 - State 1983 acres, Lost Lake, State # 1030, State (1335 acres), State (5000 acres), Jenny, City (BDU), Marron #4, Asist #51 (SLO/VNC)1996- Modoc NF 707 (Ambrose), Borrego (MVU), Assist #16 (SLU), Deep Creek (BDU), Weber (BDU), State (Wesley) 500 acres (RRU), Weaver (MMU), Wasioja (SBC/LPF), Gale (FKU), FKU 15832 (FKU), State (Wesley) 500 acres, Cabazon (RRU), State Assist (aka Bee) (RRU), Borrego, Otay #269 (MVU), Slaughter house (MVU), Oak Flat (TUU)

1997 - Lightning #70 (LMU), Jackrabbit (RRU), Fernandez (TUU), Assist 84 (Military AFV) (SLU), Metz #4 (BEU), Copperhead (BEU), Millstream, Correia (MMU), Fernandez (TUU)

1998 - Worden, Swift, PG&E 39 (MMU), Chariot, Featherstone, Wildcat, Emery, Deluz (MVU), Cajalco Santiago (RRU)

1999 - Musty #2,3 (BTU), Border # 95 (MVU), Andrews, Roadside 9323 (MMU), Lacy (BDU), Range (SCU)

2000 - Latrobe (AEU), Shell (SLU), Happy Camp (Inyo), Golden Fire (BDU)

2001 - Pacheco (MMU), Orosco (CNF/MVU), Observation (LNF), Modoc Complex (LMU), Happy Camp Complex (SKU)

2002 - Nicholas (MMU), Aliso Assist #73 (MVU), Assist, Leona, Williams (BDU), BLM D596, horse complex (LMU), KNF Assist #15 (SKU), Cajalco Evening State 925 (RRU), Airport, Bouquet, Copper, Inyo Complex (BDU)

2003 - F.K.U. 7076 (LOC), MNF 964 Assist (LNU)

2004 - F.K.U. 7654, NOD BBT4

2005 - Pine (TUU)

2006 - Phelps (FKU), BLM-2 (FKU), Olive (MMU), Alpaugh (TUU), Lgt. # 11,26, 53 (LMU), Cort, Coyote, Orchard Ranch (RRU)

2007 - Little 5 (FKU), Brokeoff (SHU), Avenue 26/ Rd 195 (MMU/local)

2008 - Jonson VMP (RRU), 85 (LNU), Wagers (MEU), STA 57 ONO CDF IGO 2 C2(SHU), Whitmore Rd/ Old Cow C2(SHU), Coleman,Fish Hatchery (SHU), EO2A (SHU), Igo 6,13, 15,16,17,18 (SHU), Lakehead (SHU), Daugherty (MEU), Breakneck (BTU), West Branch,Frey,Flea,Valley,Lynch (BTU), Squaw 1 Lightning 2 (MEU), Venture (SHU), 5-8,Cliff,Lightning, Popcorn (LMU), Juan Creek Lightning (MEU), Dixie (LMU), Alder Creek Beach Rd (MEU), Dino,Hwy 152 (MMU), Smokey Rim Empire Camp (BTU), Turkey (BEU), Rodeo 2 (TUU), Lackerman (BTU), Long (BTU)

2009 - Oliver (RRU), Ash (MMU), One-Eleven (SHU L complex)

2010 - Whites (FKU), Flynn (SCU-002885)

2011 - None

2012 - Billy (MMU), Lassen (FKU), Grape (KRN), Rushmore (RRU)

2013 - River (MMU), Fox (LMU)

2014 - Pierce (RRU), 59 (TCU), Gun Club (MMU), Kelley (MMU), Stony Loop (Monterey), Modoc Complex

2015 - Carl Motar Grenade (MIL), Peanut (Monterey), Mad River Complex (SRF), GASQUET (SRF), Horno (MIL), Deer (KRN), Forebay Creek (MMU)

2016 - Fort Flat (KRN)

2017 - Deluz (MVU), Range (MIL Monterey), Quail Complex (KRN), Farad (HTF), Orleans Complex (SRF), R-21 (BLM), Summit Complex (STF), Rose (KRN), Buffalo (MIL MVU), Chris (HTF), Liberty (Local RRU)

2018 - Alpha (MIL MVU), Yankee (MIL SLO), Pendleton Complex, West (CNF), Nacimiento (MIL Monterey), Branscome (SUI local)

2019 - Reche (RRU-130198), Stuhr (SCU-003879)

2020 - Candy (RRU-124873), Range (BOB-006492), Beale (BEA-000000)

2021 - None

2022 - None

2023 - None

2024 - None