Despite a trend in recent years toward larger and more extreme weather events, 2023 was one of the least active wildfire seasons on record by some metrics.
That’s small comfort to anyone who has ever been in the path of a fire — in some cases, a burned area may need a decade or more to recover. And 2023 nonetheless had one of the worst wildfires in history, according to a recent analysis.
The Zebra, an insurance comparison website, recently used data from the Insurance Information Institute on the number of acres burned, number of lives lost and the overall financial costs of damage to identify the most destructive fires ever.
Following are the worst wildfires in American history.
10. Atlas Fire
Where this fire took place: North of Napa, California
When this fire began: Oct. 8, 2017
Total damage caused by this fire: $3.6 billion
The Atlas Fire began on Atlas Peak in Napa, when falling trees or branches struck power conductors operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Carried by strong winds, the fire raged south across wineries within hours, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
By the time it was contained, six people had died. All told, more than 51,000 acres were burned.
9. Taylor Complex Fires
Where this fire took place: Eastern Alaska
When this fire began: June 26, 2004
Total damage caused by this fire: $49 million
The Taylor Complex Fire was the largest in Alaska and the largest in the U.S. between 1997 and 2007. More than 1.3 million acres burned across the state after the fire was ignited by lightning. However, it was the only wildfire on this list in which no people lost their lives and property damage was fairly low.
8. Woolsey Fire
Where this fire took place: South of Simi Valley, California
When this fire began: Nov. 8, 2018
Total damage caused by this fire: $6 billion
A loose power line in the Simi Hills of Southern California sparked a fire in Woolsey Canyon, on the site of a former federal research facility. It caused three deaths, burned nearly 100,000 acres — much of it in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area — and forced the evacuation of about 295,000 people.
7. Thumb Fire
Where this fire took place: Sanilac County, Michigan
When this fire began: Sept. 5, 1881
Total damage caused by this fire: $74 million
Two devasting fires ravaged the “thumb” region of Michigan in 1871 and 1881. During the 1871 fire, residents of Forestville and White Rock fled into the waters of Lake Huron to escape the flames. That fire deadened green timber and paved the way for an even more deadly fire in the region in 1881, according to an expert at the University of Michigan.
The 1881 fire left 150 people dead, including some who jumped into wells for safety but never came out.
6. Cloquet and Moose Lake Fires
Where this fire took place: Northeastern Minnesota
When this fire began: Oct. 10, 1918
Total damage caused by this fire: $1 billion
More than a century ago, a spark from a passing train ignited this wildfire, the worst in Minnesota’s history, near the towns of Moose Lake and Cloquet. The driest conditions in nearly 50 years and significant winds drove the flames far, destroying 38 communities and claiming more than 1,000 lives. A quarter of a million acres burned.
5. Maui Wildfires
Where this fire took place: Island of Maui, Hawaii
When this fire began: Aug. 8, 2023
Total damage caused by this fire: $5.5 billion
“One of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in at least the past 100 years” decimated the town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which says high winds and dry weather caused wildfires to develop. The death toll ultimately rose to 100 people. More than two in five of the victims were over the age of 70, though the youngest was just 7 years old.
4. Tubbs Fire
Where this fire took place: Napa and Sonoma Counties, California
When this fire began: Oct. 8, 2017
Total damage caused by this fire: $9.5 billion
The cause of the Tubbs fire was disputed — power company PG&E blamed privately installed and managed electrical equipment on a homeowner’s property — but the blaze started near Calistoga and grew large enough to kill nearly two dozen people in its 36,800-acre reach. More than 5,600 structures were burned.
3. Camp Fire
Where this fire took place: Butte County, California
When this fire began: Nov. 8, 2018
Total damage caused by this fire: $10.7 billion
This early-morning fire was caused by power lines downed by high winds, and, as is often the case, those high winds then fanned the flames into a major disaster. More than 52,000 people were forced to evacuate, and 85 people died. The fire consumed more than 150,000 acres and some 18,000 structures, including 9,000 homes, and the town of Paradise was almost completely destroyed.
2. Great Fire of 1910
Where this fire took place: Across Idaho and western Montana
When this fire began: Aug. 20, 1910
Total damage caused by this fire: $31 million
Also known as the “Big Blowup,” the Great Fire of 1910 claimed the lives of at least 85 people, most of them firefighters. The devastating series of forest fires ignited by lightning storms were spread by high winds, consuming more than 3 million acres and making it the most widespread blaze on this list. President William Howard Taft deployed about 4,000 soldiers to help contain the fires that swept over the states of Idaho and Montana.
1. Peshtigo Fire
Where this fire took place: Northeast Wisconsin
When this fire began: Oct. 8, 1871
Total damage caused by this fire: $169 million
The worst fire in American history began in northeast Wisconsin the same day as the Great Chicago Fire. This one cost more than 1,200 lives and burned somewhere between 1.2 million and 1.5 million acres, including 16 towns. The city the fire is named for, Peshtigo, “was gone in an hour,” according to a report from the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Today’s Peshtigo is very different.
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