The 2009 California wildfires were a series of 9,159 wildfires that were active in the US state of California, during the year 2009. The fires burned more than 422,147 acre of land from early February through late November, due to Red Flag conditions, destroying hundreds of structures, injuring 134 people, and killing four. The wildfires also caused at least US$134.48 million in damage. Although the fires burned many different regions of California in August, the month was especially notable for several very large fires which burned in Southern California, despite being outside of the normal fire season for that region. The Station Fire, north of Los Angeles, was the largest and deadliest of these wildfires. It began in late August, and resulted in the devastation of 160577 acre of land as well as the death of two firefighters. Another large fire was the La Brea Fire, which burned nearly 90000 acre in Santa Barbara County earlier in the month. A state of emergency was also declared for the 7800 acre Lockheed Fire in Santa Cruz County, to the north.

Fires

Below is a list of all fires that exceeded 1000 acre during the 2009 fire season. The list is taken from CAL FIRE's list of large fires.

Weather conditions

Invasive, non-native vegetation dies and re-sprouts year after year creating an unnatural buildup of dead plant material. While periodic fires are natural, and many native plants depend upon fire to reproduce; the intensity and frequency of these fires is altered by the presence of non-natives. In Southern California, the normal wildfire season begins in October, with the arrival of the infamous Santa Ana winds, and it is unusual to see fires spread so rapidly during other times of year. However, temperatures throughout the southern part of the state exceeded 100 °F (38 °C) for much of late August. The combination of high temperatures, low humidity and a large quantity of tinder-dry fuel, some of which had not burnt for decades, allowed some of the normal fires to quickly explode out of control despite the lack of winds to spread the flames. These conditions, along with extreme terrain in many undeveloped areas that slowed access to burn areas, made firefighting difficult.

Notable fires

Dozens of fires burned throughout California in August 200345. Some of the most notable are listed here.

Northern California

Alameda County

Mariposa County

Placer County

Santa Cruz/Monterey/San Benito Counties

Yuba County

Southern California

Los Angeles County

San Bernardino County

Santa Barbara County

Ventura County