[floridaorange]

I lived through the witch creek fires there and was woken up to how common they were - that made moving back to Florida a lot easier.

Here’s a list of the top 10 worst fires in Southern California since 1950, based on size, destruction, and loss of life:

1. Cedar Fire (2003)

• Location: San Diego County
• Acreage: 273,246 acres
• Structures Lost: 2,820
• Fatalities: 15
• Cause: Human (signal fire)
• The largest fire in California’s recorded history at the time.

2. Thomas Fire (2017)

• Location: Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
• Acreage: 281,893 acres
• Structures Lost: 1,063
• Fatalities: 2
• Cause: Power lines
• Severe wind conditions spread this fire rapidly.

3. Woolsey Fire (2018)

• Location: Los Angeles and Ventura Counties
• Acreage: 96,949 acres
• Structures Lost: 1,643
• Fatalities: 3
• Cause: Electrical equipment failure
• Burned through Malibu and surrounding communities.

4. Camp Fire (2018)

• Location: Butte County (Northern California but worth noting)
• Acreage: 153,336 acres
• Structures Lost: 18,804
• Fatalities: 85
• Cause: Electrical transmission lines
• Though outside SoCal, this remains California’s deadliest and most destructive fire.

5. Santiago Canyon Fire (1889)

• Location: Orange County
• Acreage: ~300,000 acres (estimate)
• While this predates 1950, it’s one of the largest fires in Southern California history.

6. Old Fire (2003)

• Location: San Bernardino County
• Acreage: 91,281 acres
• Structures Lost: 993
• Fatalities: 6
• Cause: Arson
• Occurred during the same devastating fire season as the Cedar Fire.

7. Laguna Fire (1970)

• Location: San Diego County
• Acreage: 175,425 acres
• Structures Lost: 382
• Fatalities: 5
• Cause: Downed power lines
• One of the most significant fires of the 1970s.

8. Bel-Air Fire (1961)

• Location: Los Angeles County
• Acreage: 6,090 acres
• Structures Lost: 484
• Fatalities: 0
• Cause: Embers from a garbage fire
• Made headlines due to the destruction of celebrity homes.

9. Malibu Fire (1993)

• Location: Los Angeles County
• Acreage: 16,516 acres
• Structures Lost: 388
• Fatalities: 3
• Cause: Arson
• Part of a devastating fire season in Malibu’s history.

10. Bobcat Fire (2020)

• Location: Los Angeles County (Angeles National Forest)
• Acreage: 115,796 acres
• Structures Lost: 170
• Fatalities: 0
• Cause: Under investigation (suspected power equipment)
• One of the largest fires in Los Angeles County.



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