The Worst Wildfires in US History
America's deadliest wildfire killed up to 2,500 people — on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire. Nobody remembers it. Here are 12 fires that shaped how we fight wildfires, with NOAA drought data showing why each one was so devastating.
AccuWeather is forecasting 5.5 to 8 million acres burned in the 2026 wildfire season. Drought covers 62% of the country. A Super El Niño is developing. If those numbers hold, 2026 would rival 2020 — the worst modern fire year on record.
To understand what that means, I went through NOAA precipitation and temperature records for every major wildfire in US history. The pattern is remarkably consistent: the worst fires don't start on the hottest day — they start after months of missing rain. The Peshtigo Fire followed three months of zero measurable precipitation. The Camp Fire followed two months of zero rain. The 2025 LA fires followed six months of zero rain. Drought is the setup. Wind is the trigger.
Here are the fires that defined American wildfire history — ranked first by death toll, then by acreage — with the actual weather data that made each one possible.
The 12 Worst Wildfires in US History
Ranked primarily by death toll, with acreage, cost, and drought data for each event. Where death tolls are similar, the more recent or more consequential fire ranks higher.
Peshtigo Fire (1871)
The deadliest wildfire in American history, and one of the most forgotten. On October 8, 1871 — the same night as the Great Chicago Fire — a firestorm roared through northeastern Wisconsin and upper Michigan, destroying 16 communities. The town of Peshtigo was completely obliterated: 800 of its 1,700 residents died in roughly 90 minutes. Many suffocated before the flames reached them as the fire consumed all available oxygen. Survivors who jumped into the Peshtigo River reported the water boiling around them.
Key detail: The exact death toll will never be known — all local records, including the census, burned. The Peshtigo Fire killed at least 5x more people than the Chicago Fire, yet the Chicago Fire monopolized national attention because telegraph lines to Peshtigo were destroyed. The fire generated its own weather: a fire tornado was reported near Williamsonville.
Cloquet Fire (1918)
On October 12, 1918 — the same week the Spanish flu was devastating Minnesota — a constellation of smaller fires merged into one fast-moving wall of flame that swept through Carlton and St. Louis counties. The town of Cloquet was destroyed in under three hours. Moose Lake, Automba, and Kettle River were also leveled. 453 people died and 52,000 were displaced, many fleeing on trains with flames visible on both sides of the tracks.
Key detail: The double catastrophe of wildfire + Spanish flu overwhelmed Minnesota's emergency response. Many burn victims contracted flu in overcrowded hospitals, and many flu patients couldn't evacuate. The Cloquet Fire led to Minnesota establishing one of the nation's first state fire agencies.
Hinckley Fire (1894)
A firestorm swept through six townships in Pine County, Minnesota on September 1, 1894. Hinckley was destroyed in less than four hours. The fire generated a 4.5-mile-high convection column — essentially a fire-driven thunderstorm — and produced fire whirls visible for miles. The air temperature in Hinckley reportedly reached over 1,000°F. A famous rescue involved engineer James Root, who backed his train through walls of flame to evacuate hundreds of residents.
Key detail: NOAA records show the summer of 1894 was one of the driest in Minnesota history. July and August precipitation was less than 30% of normal. The logging industry had left enormous piles of slash (tree debris) across the landscape — essentially pre-staged fuel for a firestorm.
Great Fires of 1871 (Michigan) (1871)
On the same October 8 night as the Peshtigo and Chicago fires, massive fires swept across Michigan. The towns of Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron were devastated. Holland lost 210 of its 243 buildings. Nearly 2.5 million acres burned across both peninsulas. The simultaneity of fires across a 500-mile swath from Wisconsin to Michigan remains one of the most remarkable weather events in US history — the fires were driven by the same drought and the same cold front passage.
Key detail: NOAA reconstructions show the entire Great Lakes region experienced severe drought from July through October 1871. No measurable rain fell in large sections of Wisconsin and Michigan for over three months. When a powerful cold front swept through on October 8, its winds turned smoldering ground fires into a coordinated firestorm across three states.
Great Fire of 1910 (The Big Blowup) (1910)
The largest wildfire in US history by acreage. The summer of 1910 was exceptionally dry — the driest in recorded Pacific Northwest history to that point. Thousands of small fires burned across Idaho and Montana for weeks. Then on August 20–21, a powerful cold front with hurricane-force winds combined all the smaller fires into one enormous blaze. In 36 hours, 3 million acres burned — an area the size of Connecticut. Entire towns were incinerated. 87 people died, mostly firefighters.
Key detail: The Big Blowup permanently changed American wildfire policy. Before 1910, fire was considered a natural forest process. Afterward, the USFS adopted a policy of suppressing all fires by 10 AM the morning after detection — the "10 AM policy." Paradoxically, a century of fire suppression built up fuel loads that make modern wildfires larger and more intense.
Camp Fire (2018)
The deadliest and most destructive California wildfire in recorded history. The Camp Fire destroyed 18,804 structures — nearly the entire town of Paradise (population 26,682) — in less than 24 hours. The fire moved at a rate of 80 football fields per minute, driven by Diablo winds gusting to 52 mph. 85 people died, most of them elderly residents who couldn't evacuate fast enough on the town's limited road network.
Key detail: I looked at NOAA precipitation data for Butte County for the year before the Camp Fire: September and October 2018 received zero measurable rainfall. The vegetation moisture content was at historic lows. When PG&E transmission line C-1 failed on November 8, it landed on tinder. PG&E was later convicted of 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
Griffith Park Fire (1933)
A horrifying example of how small fires can be deadly. On October 3, 1933, a brush-clearing operation in Griffith Park escaped control during a drought. Only 47 acres burned — a fraction of modern California fires — but 29 workers and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) enrollees were trapped in a steep canyon with no escape route. Most were between 18 and 25 years old. The fire accelerated uphill at extraordinary speed, overtaking them in minutes.
Key detail: The Griffith Park Fire killed more people than wildfires 1,000 times its size. Terrain and escape routes matter more than acreage. This lesson continues to repeat itself — the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona killed 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots in a similar canyon-trap scenario.
2025 Los Angeles Fires (Palisades + Eaton) (2025)
The most destructive wildfire event in Los Angeles history. Starting January 7, 2025, multiple fires ignited simultaneously during the strongest Santa Ana wind event in years. The Palisades Fire destroyed 6,837 structures across Pacific Palisades, Topanga, and Malibu. The Eaton Fire devastated Altadena. Combined, the fires killed 29 people and displaced over 100,000 residents. The insured losses made it one of the costliest natural disasters in California history.
Key detail: Los Angeles received zero measurable rainfall in the six months before the fires — the driest stretch in recorded history. NOAA data shows LA's normal January precipitation is 3.12 inches; the city received 0.00 inches in November, December, and early January. When 80+ mph Santa Ana winds arrived, the vegetation was essentially dead fuel.
Yarnell Hill Fire (2013)
Lightning started a fire near Yarnell, Arizona on June 28, 2013. On June 30, the Granite Mountain Hotshots — an elite 20-person wildfire crew from Prescott — were redeploying when a thunderstorm's outflow winds suddenly shifted the fire direction by 90 degrees. The fire overran their position in Box Canyon. 19 of the 20 crew members died. It was the deadliest day for US wildland firefighters since the 1933 Griffith Park Fire.
Key detail: NOAA weather data shows temperatures in the Yarnell area hit 101°F that afternoon with 4% humidity — creating an environment where fire behavior was essentially unpredictable. The thunderstorm that killed the crew was actually supposed to bring rain relief. Instead, its downdraft winds pushed the fire directly into the crew's position before any rain fell.
2020 West Coast Fire Season (2020)
The worst modern wildfire season in US history by total acreage. A rare dry lightning siege in mid-August 2020 ignited over 1,000 fires across California, Oregon, and Washington in a single week. The August Complex Fire in California merged 37 separate fires into the state's largest fire on record at 1,032,648 acres. Oregon experienced its most destructive fires in recorded history — the Beachie Creek, Holiday Farm, and Almeda fires burned through the Cascade foothills, destroying over 4,000 homes. Smoke blanketed the entire West Coast for weeks, creating some of the worst air quality ever recorded in Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Key detail: NOAA's climate analysis showed August 2020 was the hottest August on record for California (averaged statewide). The preceding winter delivered only 50% of normal snowpack. A record-breaking heat wave just before the lightning siege pushed temperatures above 120°F in Death Valley (130°F) and set all-time records in multiple California cities.
Smokehouse Creek Fire (2024)
The largest wildfire in Texas history. Starting February 26, 2024, the Smokehouse Creek Fire tore across the Texas Panhandle at terrifying speed, burning over a million acres in a matter of days. A downed power line ignited grass that hadn't seen meaningful rain in months. Winds gusted to 60+ mph, pushing the fire at 40+ mph at times — faster than many vehicles could drive on county roads. Despite its enormous size, only 2 people died, partly because the Panhandle is sparsely populated. Over 7,000 cattle were killed.
Key detail: The Panhandle had been in severe drought for over a year. NOAA precipitation data for the Canadian, Texas station shows only 7.3 inches of rain in the 12 months before the fire — compared to a 20-inch annual average. That's 63% below normal. The grasslands were drier than they'd been since the 2011 Texas drought, which produced the previous record fire season (3.9M acres statewide).
Cerro Grande Fire (2000)
A National Park Service prescribed burn at Bandelier National Monument that went catastrophically wrong. The burn was ignited on May 4, 2000 despite forecasts for strong winds. Within hours it escaped containment. Over the next two weeks it destroyed 235 residences, 39 apartment buildings, and 95 structures at Los Alamos National Laboratory — the nuclear weapons facility where the atomic bomb was designed. 18,000 residents were evacuated. While no one died, the fire came within yards of buildings containing radioactive and classified materials.
Key detail: The Cerro Grande Fire is the most expensive wildfire per acre in US history — $1.6 billion for 47,650 acres ($33,500/acre). Most of that cost came from decontamination and cleanup at Los Alamos National Lab. The incident led to a complete overhaul of prescribed fire policies and the firing of the Bandelier superintendent.
Are US Wildfires Getting Worse? What the Data Shows
Depends what you mean by “worse.” The number of wildfires per year hasn't changed much — it's hovered around 70,000 since 2000. But the size, intensity, and cost have all increased dramatically.
Sources: NIFC Wildland Fire Statistics, Congressional Research Service (2025), USFS Budget Justification.
Three factors are driving this: warmer temperatures (drying vegetation faster and extending the season), a century of fire suppression (building up fuel loads in forests that evolved with regular fire), and wildland-urban interface (WUI) expansion (44 million US homes are now in fire-prone areas, up from 30 million in 1990). The 2025 LA fires demonstrated the WUI problem in the most expensive way possible — $50+ billion in damage in one of America's wealthiest neighborhoods.
Wildfire Season 2026 Forecast: 5.5–8 Million Acres
2026 Wildfire Outlook — AccuWeather + NIFC
- 65,000–80,000 fires forecast (vs. 77,850 in 2025 and 70K historical average)
- 5.5–8 million acres predicted (vs. 5.1M in 2025 and 7.0M historical average)
- 62% of the US in drought as of late April — highest pre-summer drought level in years
- Above-normal risk for Southwest, Great Basin, Rockies, and Northwest all summer
- Texas, Florida, Georgia, Carolinas also face elevated risk through spring
The developing Super El Niño is a wildcard. El Niño winters typically bring more rain to California and the southern tier, which can reduce fire risk in those areas. But it also intensifies drought across the northern Rockies, Pacific Northwest, and Great Basin — exactly the regions NIFC has flagged for above-normal risk. The 2020 season (10.1M acres, worst in modern history) happened during a La Niña year, so El Niño isn't a guarantee of protection.
The real concern is the Midwest and Southern Plains. NIFC's seasonal outlook flags above-normal risk in areas not traditionally associated with catastrophic wildfire — Texas, Oklahoma, the Carolinas. The 2024 Smokehouse Creek Fire demonstrated that the Midwest grassfire threat is being underestimated. Those areas lack the firefighting infrastructure that California and the Pacific Northwest have built over decades.
For the latest on summer conditions, see our summer 2026 weather outlook.
Why Drought — Not Heat — Is the Real Setup for Catastrophic Fire
Every fire on this list shares one feature: extended drought before ignition. A 110°F day with normal soil moisture won't produce a Peshtigo or a Camp Fire. A 90°F day after six months of no rain will.
Precipitation Deficits Before Major Wildfires
This matters for 2026 because the drought setup is already in place. The US Drought Monitor shows 62% of the country in some level of drought as of late April — and we haven't hit the peak drying months yet. If June through August follow the pattern NOAA's seasonal outlook suggests (above-normal temperatures, below-normal precipitation across the West), the fuel conditions by August could rival 2020.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the worst wildfire in US history?
The Peshtigo Fire of 1871 is the deadliest, killing 1,500–2,500 people in Wisconsin and Michigan. The Great Fire of 1910 is the largest by acreage at 3 million acres. The 2018 Camp Fire is the most destructive by structures destroyed (18,804). The 2025 LA fires are likely the most expensive ($50B+ estimated).
How many wildfires happen in the US each year?
About 70,000 per year on average since 2000, burning roughly 7 million acres annually (NIFC). In 2025, 77,850 fires burned 5.1 million acres. The number of fires hasn't changed much, but the average fire size has increased significantly.
What state has the most wildfires?
California leads in destructive fires — 5 of the 10 most destructive US wildfires occurred there. Texas leads in recent acreage burned (Smokehouse Creek: 1.05M acres in 2024). Alaska often leads total annual acreage due to vast unpopulated forests.
Is 2026 going to be a bad wildfire season?
Forecasters say yes. AccuWeather predicts 5.5–8 million acres, and NIFC projects above-normal risk across the Southwest, Great Basin, Rockies, and Northwest. 62% of the US is in drought, and the developing Super El Niño is expected to intensify heat and drying through summer.
What causes most wildfires in the US?
Humans cause about 85% of wildfires (NIFC). Power line failures started the Camp Fire, Smokehouse Creek Fire, and LA fires. Lightning causes 15% of ignitions but often starts fires in remote areas that burn more acreage. The 2020 West Coast fires were triggered by a dry lightning siege.
Data Sources & Methodology
Death tolls and acreage from NIFC Wildland Fire Statistics and NFPA Catastrophic Fire Reports. Precipitation and drought data from NOAA NCEI and the US Drought Monitor. California fire data from CAL FIRE. 2026 forecast from AccuWeather and NIFC Predictive Services. Suppression cost data from USFS Budget Justification (2024). Historical fire research from Forest History Society and the Wisconsin State Climatology Office.
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