This data should be used carefully for statistical analysis and reporting due to missing perimeters (see Use Limitation in metadata). Some fires are missing because historical records were lost or damaged, were too small for the minimum cutoffs, had inadequate documentation or have not yet been incorporated into the database. Other known errors with the fire perimeter database include duplicate fires and over-generalization. Over-generalization, particularly with large old fires, may show unburned "islands" within the final perimeter as burned. Users of the fire perimeter database must exercise caution in application of the data. Careful use of the fire perimeter database will prevent users from drawing inaccurate or erroneous conclusions from the data. 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.  The data covers fires back to 1878. 

Please help improve this dataset by filling out this survey with feedback:

Historic Fire Perimeter Dataset Feedback (arcgis.com)

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 impacted residential or commercial structures, and/or caused ≥1 fatality.

All cooperating agencies submit perimeters ≥10 acres.

Version update:

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.

Detailed metadata is included in the following documents:

Wildland Fire Perimeters (Firep24_1) Metadata 

For any questions, please contact the data steward:

Kim Wallin, GIS Specialist

CAL FIRE, Fire & Resource Assessment Program (FRAP)

kimberly.wallin@fire.ca.gov