Largest Wildfires in US History by Acres
19 fires of 500,000+ acres since 1950 (perimeters) · state records (blue) · NIFC, AICC, USFS · as of 2026-10-09
Largest US wildfires
Final perimeter, 500,000+ acres (19)
State record, point of origin (14)
Deadliest & most destructive (15): final perimeter (10)
Deadliest, no perimeter: approximate location (5)
Dated perimeters (102), colour = fire day:
Satellite detections, 2 km cells (4,775), colour = fire day:
day 1
days 2–3
days 4–7
days 8–14
days 15–30
day 31 or later
day 1
days 2–3
days 4–7
days 8–14
days 15–30
day 31 or later
Smoke polygons (78):
Light
Medium
Heavy
Red flag warning zones (46; 32 warnings), ALERT
Damage inspections (45,326):
Destroyed (>50%) (42,124)
Major (25-50%) (214)
Minor (10-25%) (513)
Affected (>0-10%) (2,475)
Acres = reported final size; click a fire for its mapped (GIS) area. Holes are unburned islands.
Burn severity (MTBS)
High
Moderate
Low
Unburned to low
Increased greenness
Non-processing area (MTBS mask: cloud, shadow or data gap)
OBSERVED (Landsat before/after images, classed by MTBS analysts), shown inside the fire's final perimeter: Boundary 2004 (extended assessment, Landsat 2002-05-27 vs 2005-07-22); Minto Flats South 2009 (extended assessment, mapped by MTBS as Railbelt Complex (Minto Flats South), Landsat 2006-09-10 vs 2010-09-12); Wallow 2011 (extended assessment, Landsat 2011-05-14 vs 2012-05-24); Starbuck 2017 (initial assessment, Landsat 2017-02-20 vs 2017-03-17); Doe (August Complex) 2020 (extended assessment, mapped by MTBS as August Complex, Landsat 2020-07-15 vs 2021-07-18); Dixie 2021 (extended assessment, Landsat 2020-07-08 vs 2022-07-14); Smokehouse Creek 2024 (initial assessment, Landsat 2024-02-24 vs 2024-03-11). Scene dates UTC. Not shown: Long Draw (MTBS images cover too little of the fire), Alaska's ranked fires before 2004 (not mapped by MTBS) and the 2026 fires (not yet mapped).
