Creek Fire (2020)

Not to be confused with the Witch Creek Fire, Creek Fire (2006), Creek Fire (2017), or the December 2020 Creek Fire at Camp Pendleton.

Creek Fire
  • Top: The Creek Fire's smoke plume
  • Bottom left: A National Guard helicopter hovers above Mammoth Pool Reservoir
  • Bottom right: The fire burns trees and a manufactured home on September 8, 2020
Date(s)
  • September 4 (4-09) –
  • December 24, 2020 (2020-12-24)
  • (112 days)
LocationFresno County &
Madera County,
Central California, United States
Coordinates37°11′29″N 119°15′40″W / 37.19147°N 119.261175°W / 37.19147; -119.261175
Statistics[1][2]
Total area379,895 acres (153,738 ha; 594 sq mi; 1,537 km2)
Impacts
Deaths0
Non-fatal injuries26 (12 campers and 14 firefighters)[1][3]
Evacuated>30,000
Structures destroyed856
Damage>$500 million
(2020 USD)
Ignition
CauseUndetermined
Map
The footprint of the Creek Fire is shown in orange, and is shaped roughly like a crescent arc, with several protrusions, between Yosemite National Park to the north and Kings Canyon National Park to the south. A finger of the fire reaches out toward Mammoth Lakes, and another toward Lake Thomas A Edison. Fresno lies in the map's southwest corner.
The footprint of the Creek Fire, with Yosemite National Park at top and Fresno at bottom left
Creek Fire (2020) is located in California
Creek Fire (2020)
The general location of the Creek Fire in central California

The 2020 Creek Fire was a very large wildfire in central California's Sierra National Forest, in Fresno and Madera counties. One of the most significant fires of California's record-setting 2020 wildfire season, it began on September 4, 2020, and burned 379,895 acres (153,738 ha) over several months until it was declared 100% contained on December 24, 2020. The Creek Fire is the sixth-largest wildfire in recorded California history and the third-largest single fire—i.e. not part of a larger wildfire complex—following the 2021 Dixie Fire.[4]

Tens of thousands of residents in Fresno and Madera counties were forced to evacuate, and the fire also necessitated the helicopter rescue of hundreds of people by the California National Guard after they became trapped at Mammoth Pool Reservoir. Despite this, the fire caused zero fatalities, though there were more than twenty injuries. The Creek Fire destroyed hundreds of structures in Sierra Nevada communities, adding up to 856 buildings destroyed and dozens more damaged. The combined cost of the months-long firefighting effort and damage to private and county property exceeded $500 million.

  1. ^ a b "Creek Fire". California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. October 26, 2020. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  2. ^ "Creek Fire Information". inciweb.nwcg.gov. InciWeb. November 23, 2020. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  3. ^ "Creek Fire Update: National Guard Helicopter Rescue Missions Turned Back By Heavy Smoke; Fire Grows To 135,523 Acres; One Death In Fire". September 7, 2020. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :8 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).