How the Destruction in Los Angeles Ranks in California’s Fire History

The Los Angeles fires may be far from the largest wildfires in California, but they already rank as some of the most destructive in state history, according to preliminary figures issued Thursday by local authorities.

The Palisades fire alone appears to have destroyed as many as 5,316 structures in West Los Angeles, according to fire officials who conducted an aerial survey of the region, which would make it the state’s third most destructive on record. The Eaton fire, northeast of Los Angeles, destroyed as many as 5,000 structures, a number that would make it the fourth most destructive.

The duo of fires are among several still burning that have been incredibly devastating because of their proximity to densely populated areas.

The state’s most devastating wildfire is the 2018 Camp fire, which destroyed more than 18,000 structures as it burned across 153,000 acres. The second most destructive, the Tubbs fire, destroyed about 5,600 structures in Napa and Sonoma Counties in 2017.

The Tunnel fire in Oakland Hills in 1991, the Cedar fire in San Diego County in 2003 and the North Complex fire in 2020 all destroyed between 2,000 and 3,000 structures each. They were the third, fourth and fifth most destructive in the state, though the current Los Angeles fires have most likely surpassed them.

An exact tally of the fires’ impact will not be available any time soon, said David Acuna, a spokesman with Cal Fire, the state fire agency, but he added that the authorities “are confident there are thousands of homes destroyed.”

By contrast, the August Complex fire, which burned more than a million acres in a largely rural area of Northern California in 2020, destroyed fewer than 1,000 structures, according to Cal Fire data.

A structure can refer to not only a commercial building or a residence, officials said, but also other property like cars, mobile homes and sheds.

The Oakland Hills fire in 1991 burned just 1,600 acres — a much smaller footprint than the more than 25,000 acres that the Palisades and Eaton fires had burned around Los Angeles as of Thursday. But, like the Los Angeles fires, it took place around a densely populated area and destroyed 2,900 structures.

Officials have said that damage estimates for the current Los Angeles fires were preliminary and likely to increase in the coming days as fires continue to rage and officials make assessments.

Christine Hauser contributed reporting.