Valley Fire

For other wildfires of the same name, see Valley Fire (disambiguation).

Valley Fire
The fire created a wall of flames and smoke across Lake County, California.
Date(s)
  • September 12 (12-09) –
  • October 15, 2015 (2015-10-15)
  • (33 days)
Location
Statistics[1]
Burned area76,067 acres (30,783 ha; 119 sq mi; 308 km2)
Impacts
Deaths4
Non-fatal injuries4 (firefighters)
Structures destroyed
  • 1,955 structures destroyed
  • 93 structures damaged
Damage
  • ≥$1.5 billion
  • (equivalent to about $1.89 billion in 2023)
Ignition
CauseFaulty outdoor electrical wiring[2]

The Valley Fire was a wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 12 in Lake County, California.[1] It began shortly after 1:00 pm near Cobb with multiple reports of a small brush fire near the intersection of High Valley and Bottlerock Roads. It quickly spread and by 6:30 PM PDT, it had burned more than 10,000 acres (40 km2).[3] By Sunday, the thirteenth of September, the fire had reached 50,000 acres (202 km2) and had destroyed much of Cobb, Middletown, Whispering Pines, and parts in the south end of Hidden Valley Lake.[4] The fire ultimately spread to 76,067 acres (308 km2), killed four people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings,[1][5][6][7] before it was fully contained on October 15, 2015,[1] causing at least $921 million (equivalent to $1.18 billion in 2023[8]) in insured property damage.[9] At the time, the fire was the third-most destructive fire in California history, based on the total structures burned,[10][11] but the Camp Fire (2018) and the North Complex fire in 2020, exceeded that total.

  1. ^ a b c d "Valley Fire". CAL FIRE. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN 2016/08/11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Valley Fire Grows To Over 10,000 Prompting Mandatory Evacuations". KGO-TV. September 12, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  4. ^ Rossmann, Randi; Payne, Paul; Hay, Jeremy (September 13, 2015). "Evacuation advisory for areas of Sonoma County due to Valley Fire". The Press Democrat. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sep23Remains was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Knickmeyer, Ellen; Rodriguez, Olga R. (September 13, 2015). "California wildfires: 400 homes burn, one person killed". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  7. ^ "Remains of two more victims found". Press Democrat. September 17, 2015.
  8. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Hannah Beausang (September 6, 2018). "Mendocino Complex wildfires cause $56 million of insured losses". North Bay Business Journal. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  10. ^ "Northern California wildfire destroys another 162 homes". September 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  11. ^ "Top 20 Most Destructive California Wildfires" (PDF). CAL FIRE. August 20, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2018.