2001 California wildfires

The 2001 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned throughout the U.S. state of California during 2001. According to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) statistics, 9,317 fires burned a total of 377,340 acres (152,700 hectares).^[1]

2001 California wildfires
1 2 3 4 1 Trough Fire 2 Leonard Fire 3 Creek Fire 4 Hoover Complex Fire Several fires burn on either side of California's Central Valley in a photograph taken from the Space Shuttle on August 20, 2001
Statistics
Total fires	9,317
Total area	377,340 acres 152,700 ha
Impacts
Deaths	2+
Structures destroyed	389+
Damage	US$196 million ($109m in suppression costs and $87.3m in damages, per Cal Fire estimates)
Season
← 2000 2002 →

The largest wildfire of the year in California was the Observation Fire in Lassen County, which burned 67,700 acres, and the most destructive was the Poe Fire in Butte County, which burned 133 structures.^[2] Cal Fire wildfire suppression costs for fires that burned within the agency's jurisdiction amounted to US$109 million. Damages for the same amounted to $87.3 million, with a total of 389 structures lost.^[3] At least two fatalities occurred, both of them on the Bell Fire in San Diego County.^[2]

Narrative

An unusually warm, dry, and windy May prompted Cal Fire to declare May 22 the beginning of fire season throughout the state, the point in the year at which the agency hires seasonal staff to be at the ready round-the-clock in California forest districts.^[4] The pattern continued through June, with fires active weeks in advance of the 'usual' beginning of fire season.^[5]

The National Interagency Fire Center declared that the country had reached National Preparedness Level 5 (the point at which incidents across the country had the "potential to exhaust all agency fire resources") on August 15, 2001, with the bulk of the fires in California Oregon, and Nevada.^[6]

Cal Fire firefighting aircraft were temporarily grounded on September 11 by the ground stop order issued nationwide by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in response to the deadly September 11 attacks in New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) eventually instructed firefighting agencies to apply for exemptions as needed, and the restriction (which began at about 10:00 a.m.) was lifted after about three hours, when the FAA granted Cal Fire's request for exemption. The restriction affected aircraft on the Poe Fire in Butte County, among others.^[7][8]

All Cal Fire units were declared "off season" by December 3.^[3]

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 hectares), produced significant structural damage or casualties, or were otherwise notable. It is excerpted from Cal Fire's 2001 list of large (≥ 300 acres) fires, and may not be complete or reflect the most recent information.^[2]

Name	County	Acres	Start date	Containment date	Notes	Ref
Viejas	San Diego	10,353	January 3, 2001	January 8, 2001	Caused by smoking; destroyed 16 structures, damaged 13	[9]
Jones	Siskiyou	1,440	May 9, 2001	May 14, 2001	Caused by debris
Devil	Lassen	4,400	May 27, 2001	June 1, 2001	Caused by equipment use
165	Merced	1,500	June 13, 2001	June 13, 2001	Cause undetermined
Jackson	Amador	2,240	June 13, 2001	June 13, 2001	Caused by welding; destroyed 15 structures, damaged 1
SNF-562	Merced	1,200	June 13, 2001	June 13, 2001
Hemlock	San Bernardino	1,074	June 14, 2001	June 20, 2001	Caused by an escaped burn
Pacheco	Merced	1,550	June 16, 2001	June 17, 2001	Caused by a vehicle
Martis	Nevada	14,500	June 17, 2001	July 1, 2001	Caused by a campfire
Watkins	Riverside	1,407	June 23, 2001	June 24, 2001	Caused by arson
McLaughlin	Inyo	2,900	July 2, 2001	July 5, 2001	Caused by lightning
Hoover Complex	Mariposa	8,007	July 13, 2001		Caused by lightning; was allowed to burn in Yosemite National Park for ecological reasons	[10]
Reche	Riverside	1,798	July 22, 2001	July 23, 2001	Caused by a vehicle
Stream	Lassen	3,560	July 26, 2001	July 26, 2001	Caused by lightning
Trough	Lake, Glenn, Colusa	24,970	August 8, 2001	August 20, 2001	Cause undetermined; destroyed 30 structures
Cowhead	Modoc	1,670	August 8, 2001	August 9, 2001	Caused by lightning
Modoc Complex	Modoc	5,367	August 8, 2001	August 8, 2001	Caused by lightning
Shaffer	Lassen	1,100	August 8, 2001	August 8, 2001	Caused by lightning
Observation	Lassen	67,700	August 9, 2001	August 12, 2001	Caused by lightning
Blue Complex	Modoc	37,950	August 9, 2001	August 10, 2001	Caused by lightning
(Emigrant) Gap	Nevada, Placer	2,462	August 12, 2001	August 17, 2001	Caused by human activity	[11]
Crater	Mono	5,800	August 12, 2001	August 15, 2001	Caused by lightning
Buzz	Modoc	2,206	August 12, 2001	August 12, 2001	Caused by lightning
Ponderosa	Placer	2,780	August 17, 2001	August 23, 2001	Caused by a vehicle
Creek	Mariposa, Tuolumne	11,095	August 18, 2001	August 24, 2001	Caused by arson; destroyed 43 structures
Leonard	Calaveras	5,167	August 19, 2001	August 25, 2001	Caused by equipment use; destroyed 22 structures
Highway	Fresno	4,152	August 19, 2001	August 29, 2001	Caused by arson; destroyed 8 structures
North Fork	Madera	2,930	August 20, 2001
Star	El Dorado	16,761	August 25, 2001	September 22, 2001
Oregon	Trinity	1,680	August 28, 2001	August 31, 2001	Cause undetermined; destroyed 33 structures and caused evacuations in the town of Weaverville	[10]
Hyampon	Trinity	1,065	August 31, 2001	September 5, 2001	Cause undetermined
Darby	Calaveras	14,280	September 5, 2001	September 24, 2001	Cause undetermined
Poe	Butte	8,333	September 6, 2001	September 12, 2001	Caused by tree into PG&E power lines, destroyed 133 structures in the Yankee Hill area	[12]
Happy Camp Complex	Siskiyou	8,500	September 14, 2001	October 10, 2001	Caused by lightning
Stables	Los Angeles	6,544	October 12, 2001	October 15, 2001
Highway 70	Butte	1,711	October 24, 2001	October 26, 2001	Caused by arson
Bell	San Diego	1,204	December 8, 2001	December 11, 2001	Cause undetermined; 2 fatalities

See also

• California portal

• List of California wildfires

References

1. "California Wildfires and Acres for all Jurisdictions" (PDF). California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. August 24, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
2. "2001 Large Fires, 300 Acres And Greater" (PDF). California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. February 5, 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 4, 2004.
3. "CDF 2001 Fire Season Summary" (PDF). California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. March 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2003. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
4. "Fire season declared". The Record. May 23, 2001. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
5. Gold, Scott; Bailey, Eric (June 19, 2001). "Firefighters Battle Blazes as Wildfire Season Comes Early". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
6. Cain, Brad (August 16, 2001). "Officials: Conflagration roars to crisis level". The Desert Sun. Associated Press. Retrieved January 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Aircraft groundings hamstring Butte County firefighting effort". Oakland Tribune. Associated Press. September 12, 2001. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Hecht, Peter (September 12, 2001). "State gets clearance to resume firefighter flights". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved January 18, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Viejas Wildfire". NASA Earth Observatory. January 6, 2001. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
10. "Star & Oregon Fires". NASA Earth Observatory. August 31, 2001. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
11. "A Panoramic View of the Emigrant Gap Fire, California". NASA Earth Observatory. September 7, 2001. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
12. Olson, Ryan; Vau, Terry (February 22, 2006). "Settlement reached in aftermath of Poe fire". Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved January 9, 2023.

External links

• California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), Statistics and Events