List of Washington wildfires

These are incomplete lists of the major and minor wildfires in Washington state history, along with total costs of the fires for the years, starting in 2002. Wildfires are infrequent on the western side of the Cascade Crest, but a regular component of Eastern Washington ecology.

Sleepy Hollow Fire (2015) in Monitor, close to where it was ignited, heading over the ridge and into the city of Wenatchee

Major Washington wildfires chronologically

This list only includes "major fires" that destroyed over 5,000 acres (20 km²), incurred fatalities or damaged a significant amount of property. Older fires are increasingly underreported. For example, none of the wildfires of 1926–31 and 1943 that together destroyed more than 500,000 acres of the Colville National Forest are included.^[1]

2020s

Year	Fire name	Complex name	County	Start date Cause	Size (acres)	Structures lost	Deaths	Injuries	Notes	Image
2024	Beam Road Fire[2]		Yakima	June 15	8,542 acres (3,457 ha)	0	0	0	Contained June 19 Extinguished June 27
	Big Horn Fire[3][4]		Klickitat	July 22, unknown	51,569 acres (20,869 ha)	0	0	0	Contained July 31
	Black Canyon Fire[5]		Yakima	July 22, unknown	9,211 acres (3,728 ha)[5]	0	0	0	Contained August 1	DNR helicopter dipping from Wenas Lake
	Cougar Creek Fire[6][7]		Asotin & Garfield	July 15, unknown	20,699 acres (8,377 ha)	4 destroyed 5 damaged	0	0		7-24-24 map of fire perimeter
	Pioneer Fire[8]		Chelan	June 8, human caused	36,763 acres (14,877 ha)	0	0	0	Stehekin ordered to evacuate on July 28	7-24-24 map of fire perimeter
	Retreat Fire[9][10]		Yakima	July 23, cause unknown	44,588 acres (18,044 ha)	5	0	0	Also called the Rimrock Retreat Fire, closed US-12, caused evacuations and county-wide declaration of emergency	7-27-24 map of fire perimeter
	Swawilla Fire[11][12]		Ferry & Okanogan	July 17, Lightning	53,462 acres (21,635 ha)	2 outbuildings	0	0	Temporarily closed State Route 21 and Keller Ferry, evacuations of Keller and the Buffalo Lake area; August 1 a false news story was circulated about 28 homes being burned, Inciweb and NWCC debunked.	Fire perimeter map for 7-23-24
2023	Oregon Fire[13]		Spokane/Pend Oreille		10,817 acres (4,377 ha)[13]	384[14]	1[14]
	Gray Fire[15]		Spokane		10,085[15][14]	259[14]	1[14]
2020	Cold Springs Canyon/Pearl Hill Fires	Labor Day fires and Inchelium Complex	Okanogan & Douglas		Over 410,000[16]		1[17]
	Whitney Fire		Lincoln	September 7	127,430

2010s

Year	Fire name	Complex name	County	Start date	Size (acres)	Structures lost	Deaths	Injuries	Notes	Image
2019	243 Command Fire[18]		Grant	June 3	20,380 acres (82.5 km2)	0	0	0	Fully contained by June 10	Satellite view taken June 4, 2019
	Cold Creek Fire[19]		Benton		42,000 acres (170 km2)
	Pipeline Fire		Kittitas		6,515 acres (26.37 km2)
	Powerline Fire[20]		Grant		7,800 acres (32 km2)
	Williams Flats Fire		Okanogan		44,446 acres (179.87 km2)				Largest wildfire of the 2019 season
2016	Hart Fire		Lincoln		18,220	39	0
	Range 12 Fire[21]		Yakima		177,210
	2016 Snake River Fire		Garfield		11,452 acres (46.34 km2)
	Spokane Complex Fire	Spokane Complex	Spokane		7,251 acres (29.34 km2)	10			Formed from the Wellesley and Yale Road fires Contained August 12	Water drop run August 21
2015	Black Canyon Fire[22]	Chelan Complex	Chelan	August 14	6,761
	Blue Creek Fire[23]		Walla Walla	July 20	6,004
	Carpenter Road Fire[24]		Stevens	August 14	63,972	36[25]
	Chelan Complex[26]	Chelan Complex	Chelan	August 14	88,985	44[25]			The complex included the Antoine, Black Canyon, Cagle, McFarland Creek, and Reach fires.
	Cougar Creek Fire[27]		Yakima	August 10	53,523	0	0			Firefighter and flames
	Douglas County Complex[n 1]	Douglas County Complex	Douglas	July 10	22,337[28]	0	0	0	Contained July 15
	First Creek Fire[26]		Chelan	August 14	7,490[25]	19[25]
	Goodell Fire[29]	Upper Skagit Complex	Skagit	August 10	7,111	0	0
	Graves Mountain fire[30]	Colville & Kettle	Ferry	August 14	8,557				Largest and main fire of the Colville Complex Fires. After containment of smaller fires, oversight was transferred to the Kettle Complex on Aug 31, 2015.[31]
	Grizzly Bear Complex[32]	Grizzly Bear Complex	Columbia / Wallowa, Oregon	August 13	80,725	33[25]			Complex started August 13 via 18 lightning-caused fires. All but the Bear Ridge Fire in the North burned together.	Smoke column from fires
	Highway 8 Fire[33]		Klickitat	August 10	33,100
	Lime Belt Fire[34]	Okanogan Complex	Okanogan	August 15	133,450
	Newby Lake Fire[35]		Okanogan	July 4	5,065[n 2]
	North Star Fire[36]		Ferry / Okanogan		218,138
	Okanogan Complex[34]	Okanogan Complex	Okanogan	August 15	304,782[37]	195[25]	3		Included the Lime Belt, Tunk Block, Twisp River and Nine Mile Fires. The Lime Belt Fire originated as three separate fires that burned together. On August 31, the Tunk Block fire was separated from this complex, as it was about to merge with the North Star Fire, leaving the complex with an area of 133,118 acres.	Smoke near Omak
	Paradise Fire[38]		Jefferson	May 15	2,796	0	0		A rare rainforest fire in the Olympic National Park finally extinguished in September	Smoke plume
	Renner Fire[30]	Kettle Complex	Ferry	August 11	13,775	0	0	0
	Saddle Lakes Fire[39]		Grant	June 28	14,357	0	0	0
	Sleepy Hollow Fire[40]		Chelan	June 28	2,950	33	0	4		Cresting ridge towards Wenatchee
	Stickpin Fire[30]	Kettle Complex	Ferry	August 11	53,828	0	0	0
	Tower Fire[41]	Kaniksu Complex	Pend Oreille	August 11	24,194
	Tunk Block Fire[42]	Okanogan Complex	Okanogan	August 15	165,918
	Twisp River Fire[34]	Okanogan Complex	Okanogan	August 15	11,222		3
	Wolverine Fire[43]		Chelan	August 13	65,512	4[25]				Satellite view of smoke August 2015
2014	Carlton Complex fire	Carlton Complex	Okanogan		256,108[37]	300	1		Began as four separate lightning strike fires (the Cougar Flat, French Creek, Gold Hike, and Stokes fires). The four merged and continued as one large fire complex.	Satellite image July 18, 2014
	Chiwaukum Creek Fire[44]	Chiwaukum Complex	Chelan	July 14	13,895	0	0
	Duncan Fire		Chelan	July 14	12,695	0	0
	Devil's Elbow Complex[n 3]	Devil's Elbow Complex	Ferry	August 2	26,349	0	0
	Mills Canyon Fire		Chelan	July 8	22,571	0	0
	Snag Canyon Fire		Kittitas	August 2	12,667	0	0
	Upper Falls Fire		Okanogan	August 2	8,118	0	0
2013	Colockum Tarps Fire[45][46]		Chelan / Kittitas	July 27	80,184	5	0	3
	Desmarais Fire[47]		Yakima	June 6	10,130	0	0	1
	Mile Marker 28 Fire[48]		Klickitat	July 24	26,092	0	0	6
	Wood Gulch Fire[49]		Klickitat		5,400	0	0	0
2012	Antoine 2 Fire[50]		Chelan / Okanogan		6,837	0	0	0
	Apache Pass Fire[51]		Lincoln		23,324	4	0	0
	Barker Canyon Complex[50]	Barker Canyon Complex	Douglas		81,155	12	0	0
	Buffalo Lake Road Fire[50][52]		Okanogan		11,299	1	0	5
	Byrd Fire	Wenatchee Complex[53]	Chelan		14,119	0	0
	Canyon Fire	Wenatchee Complex[53]	Chelan		7,557	0	0
	Cascade Creek Fire[54]		Skamania / Yakima		20,296	0	0	2
	Crane Road Fire[55]		Douglas		12,500	7	0	0
	Goat Fire		Okanogan		7,378	0	0	0
	Milepost 10[56]		Douglas		5,445	0	0	0
	Peavine Canyon Fire	Wenatchee Complex[53]	Chelan / Kittitas		19,467	0	0
	Poison Canyon Fire	Wenatchee Complex[53]	Chelan		5,910	0	0
	St Marys Mission Road Fire[50]		Okanogan		17,031	10	0	4
	Table Mountain Fire[50]		Kittitas		42,312	5	0	2
	Taylor Bridge Fire[50]		Kittitas		23,500	272	0	2
2011	Monastery Fire[57]		Klickitat		3,626	113	0	10
	Wishram II Fire[58]		Klickitat		11,008	0	0	0
2010	Baird Springs Fire[59]		Grant		7,693	0	0	0
	Cowiche Mill Fire[60]		Yakima		5,834	7	0	3
	Eureka Fire[61]		Walla Walla		21,620	2	0	0
	Hubbard Fire[62]		Columbia		11,500	0	0	0
	Swakane Fire[63]		Chelan		19,291	0	0	0

2000s

Year	Fire name	Complex name	County	Start date	Size (acres)	Structures lost	Deaths	Injuries	Notes	Image
2009	Dry Creek Complex[50]	Dry Creek Complex	Benton / Yakima		48,902	2	0	3
	Oden Road Fire[50]		Okanogan		9,607	14	0	3
2008	Badger Mountain Fire[50]		Chelan / Douglas		15,023	0	0	5
	Cold Springs Fire		Klickitat		7,729	0	0	0
	Columbia River Road Fire[50]		Okanogan		22,115	0	0	1
	Smith Lake Fire[64]		Douglas		12,513	0	0	0
	Spokane Valley Fire[65]		Spokane		1,008	21	0	1	Over 20 buildings lost
	Swanson Lake Fire[50]		Lincoln		19,090	18	0	1
2007	Domke Lake Fire[50]		Okanogan / Wenatchee		11,900	1	0	2
	Easy Street Fire[50]		Chelan		5,209	1	0	1
	Les Blair Fire[66]		Benton		6,000	0	0	0
	Manila Creek Fire[67]		Ferry		26,805	2	0	3
	Overlook Fire[68]		Franklin / Grant		27,071
	Six Prong Fire[69]	Horse Heaven Complex	Klickitat		20,898	0	0	0
	South Omak Lake Fire[70]		Okanogan		10,500	0	0	0
	Tunk Grade Fire[50]		Okanogan		15,540	19	0	0
	Wautoma Fire[71]		Benton		69,000	0	0	0
	Wood Gulch Fire[69]	Horse Heaven Complex	Klickitat		7,677	0	0	0
2006	Columbia Complex[72]	Columbia Complex	Columbia / Garfield		109,402	28	0	11
	Flick Creek Fire[73]		Chelan		7,889	0	0	4
	Highlands Fire[74]		Douglas		5,506	0	0	0
	Rocky Ford Fire[75]		Grant		5,000	0	0	0
	Tatoosh Fire[76][77]	Tatoosh Complex	Okanogan / British Columbia		47,787[n 4]	0	0	0
	Tinpan Fire[79]		Chelan		9,252	0	0	6
	Tripod Complex Fire[80]	Tripod Complex[n 5]	Okanogan		175,184	2	0	7
2005	McClane Fire[81]		Franklin		6,000	2	0	0
	School Fire		Columbia / Garfield		51,892	215	0	1		Satellite view August 10
	Walker Canyon Fire[82]		Walla Walla		25,000	0	0	0
	Wall Lake Fire[83]		Lincoln		5,400	3	0	1
	West Omak Lake Fire[84]		Okanogan		11,325	0	0	0
2004	Deep Harbor Fire[85]	Pot Peak/Sisi Ridge Complex	Chelan		28,500	3	0
	Pot Peak Fire[85]	Pot Peak/Sisi Ridge Complex	Chelan		17,190	0	0	6
2003	Fawn Peak Complex[86]	Fawn Peak Complex	Okanogan		81,343	0	0	4
	Hatten Road Fire[87]		Lincoln		5,460	0	0	0
	Juniper Dunes Fire[88]		Franklin		5,200	0	0	0
	McGinnis Flats Fire[89]		Ferry		2,245	2	1	1	One reported death
	Needles Fire[90]		Okanogan		21,300	1	0	5
	Rattlesnake Canyon Fire[91]		Ferry		10,560	11	0	2
	Togo Fire[92]		Ferry		5,800	0	0	0
2002	Deer Point Fire		Chelan / Okanogan		43,375	5	0	0
	Pumphouse Fire[93]		Yakima		10,412	0	0	0
	Quartz Mountain Complex[94]	Quartz Mountain Complex	Okanogan		12,144	0	0	0
2001	Gamble Mills Fire[95]	Brewster & Virginia Lake Complex	Okanogan		5,550	0	0
	Mount Leona Fire[96]	Mount Leona Complex fires	Ferry	August 13	6,144[97]				One subfire in the complex, the Sleepy Fire/Sleepy 91 Fire	Sunset over the Okanogan Highlands
	Rex Creek Fire	Rex Creek Complex fires	Chelan / Okanogan		50,000
	St. Mary's Mission Fire[95]	Virginia Lake Complex	Okanogan		32,980	0	0
	Thirtymile Fire[85]		Okanogan		9,324	0	4	14
	Virginia Lake Fire[95]	Virginia Lake Complex	Okanogan		36,680	9	0	1(+)
2000	24 Command Fire[50]		Benton		192,000	36	0	0
	Alderdale Fire[1][84]		Klickitat		6,180	0	0
	Buffalo Lake Fire[84]		Okanogan		9,300	0	0
	Cayuse Fire[84]		Okanogan		5,460	0	0
	Goodnoe Hills Fire[1][84]		Klickitat		6,510	1	0
	Mule Dry Fire[50]		Benton, Klickitat & Yakima		76,800	1	0	0
	Rocky Hull Fire[84]		Okanogan		9,404	37	0

1900–1999

Year	Fire name	Complex name	County	Start date	Size (acres)	Structures lost	Deaths	Injuries	Notes	Image
1998	Cleveland Fire[84]		Klickitat		18,500	11	0
	Rattle Snake Ridge Fire[1]		Yakima		18,000
1997	Olympia Command Fire[1]		Benton		5,500
	Pow Wah Kee Fire[1]	August 3	Asotin		8,000
1996	Baird Springs Fire[1]		Grant	August 2	14,000
	Cold Creek Fire[50]		Benton / Yakima		57,000
1994	Copper Butte Fire[96]		Ferry		10,473
	Rat Creek / Hatchery Creek Fire		Chelan		43,000
	Tyee Creek Fire[98][99]		Chelan		135,000	37
1992	Castlerock Fire[1]		Wenatchee		3,500[100]	24
	Skookum Fire[50]		Klickitat		51,000
1988	Dinkelman Fire[50]		Chelan		50,000
	Limekiln Fire[101]		Asotin		8,400
	South 17 Fire[96]	South 17 Complex	Ferry		9740				Included the Cody Butte Fire
	White Mountain Fire[96]	White Mountain Complex	Ferry	August 23	21,717				Included the Sherman Fire
1987	Hangman Hills Fire[50]		Spokane		1,500	24	2		Two deaths recorded for fire
1985	Barker Mountain Fire[50]		Okanogan		60,000
1979	Salmon Creek Fire[1]		Okanogan		7,000
1970	Lightning Bust fire[50]		Chelan / Okanogan		188,000
1951	Great Forks Fire[102]		Clallam		38,000		0
1934	Aeneas Creek Fire[103]		Ferry	"Late july"	21,000 acres (8,500 ha)				Not to be confused with the 2001 fire in the same area.
1929	Camas fire[103]		Chelan		20,000 acres (8,100 ha)				In the Chelan District
	Dollar Mountain Fire[103]		Ferry	August 4	98,000–142,000 acres (40,000–57,000 ha)		1		The northern Kettle River Ranges eastern slopes	Fire damage in the Sherman Creek drainage
	Dole Valley fire[50]		Clark / Skamania		227,500 acres (92,100 ha)
	Toats Coulee Fire[50]		Okanogan		80,000 acres (32,000 ha)
1919	Sunset Fire[1]		Clark / Skamania		26,900 acres (10,900 ha)
1910	Great Fire of 1910[50]		Pend Oreille / Spokane		150,000 acres (61,000 ha)	Unknown	38	Unknown	Western perimeter fires on one of the largest fires in United States history. The center of the burn was in Idaho and Montana.
1902	Yacolt Burn[50]	Yacolt Burn	Clark / Skamania / Cowlitz		238,900 acres (96,700 ha)	Unknown	65+	Unknown	A complex of several fires. The majority was as one fire between Carson and Yacolt.	Fire-killed Douglas-fir in 1934

Minor Washington wildfires chronologically

List of minor fires, burning over 1,000 acres (4.0 km²) and under 5,000 acres (20 km²) with no loss of life or significant numbers of structures.

Year	Fire name	Complex name	County	Start date	Size (acres)	Structures lost	Injuries	Notes	Image
2024	Bridge Creek Fire		Ferry	July 19	3,998 acres (1,618 ha)	1	0	Contained August 4	Fire map for July 23
2016	Buck Creek		Chelan	July 22	1,987 acres (804 ha)			Lightning caused
2015	231 Fire		Stevens		1,138	0	0
	Twenty-One Mile Grade fire		Ferry		2,250	0	0
2014	Hansel Fire		Chelan		1,016	0	0
	Little Bridge Fire		Okanogan	August 2	4,896	0	0
	Lone Mountain Fire		Chelan	July 14	2,770	0	0
2012	Cashmere Fire	Wenatchee Complex[53]	Chelan		2,651	0	0
	Highway 141 Fire[84]		Klickitat		1,644	0	0
2011	Salmon Fire[50]		Okanogan		1,631	0	0
2010	Highway 8 Fire[50]		Klickitat		2,019	0	0
2009	Discovery Fire[50]		Okanogan		4,120	0	0
	Rainbow Bridge Fire[50]		Chelan		3,710	0	0
2005	Dirty Face Fire[84]		Chelan		1,150	0	0
	Second Hud Fire[84]		Okanogan		4,272	0	0
	Weather Station Fire[104]		Grant		4,918	0	0
2004	Mud Lake Fire[84]		Yakima		4,000	0	0
	Williams Butte Fire[105]	Williams Butte Complex	Chelan & Okanogan		1,257	0	0
2003	Ahtanum Ridge Fire[106]		Yakima		2,678	0	1
	Ayers Gulch Fire[107]		Asotin		1,334	0	0
	Black Canyon Fire[108]		Stevens		2,280	1	3
	Crystal Creek Fire[109]		Chelan		1,584	0	5
	Isabel Fire[110]		Okanogan		4,535	0	0
	Maple Fire[111]		Chelan		2,500	0	2
	Noca Complex[112]	Noca Complex	Skagit & Whatcom		3,382	0	0
	Paddle Fire[113]		Stevens		1,324	0	0
	Shooting Range Fire[114]		Benton		2,500	0	0
	Square Lake Fire[115]		Chelan		1,097	0	0
	Watt Road Fire[116]		Spokane		1,064	7	0
2002	Deer Mountain Fire		Chelan		2,281	0	0		Fire equipment and aerial bombardment
2001	Bailey Mountain Fire[95]	Virginia Lake Complex	Okanogan		3,164	0	0
	Goose Lake Fire[95]	Virginia Lake Complex	Okanogan		1,283	0	0
	Libby Fire[84]		Okanogan		3,830	0	0
	North Coppei Fire[84]		Columbia		4,810	0	0
	Union Valley Fire[84]		Chelan		4,700	0	0
1999	Malot Fire[84]		Okanogan		2,808	0	0
1997	Red Lake Fire[84]		Stevens		1,151	5	0
1996	Bowie Road Fire[84]		Spokane		3,020	8	0
1988	Aeneas Creek Fire[101][117]		Ferry	August 23	2,300			Same area as the 21,000 acres (8,500 ha) Aeneas Creek Fire of 1934[103]

Year-by-year statistics

Wildfire seasons are defined by Washington state law as lasting from April 15 through October 15 of each year, allowing for burn bans and other restrictions to be imposed on state lands by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources during that time.^[118] According to a North American Seasonal Fire Assessment and Outlook report issued in June 2019, the summer months represent peak fire season.^[119]

	Total fires	Total area burned		Structures lost	Fatalities	Injuries	Total cost	Notes	Source
		Acres	Hectares
2002	1,285	92,742	37,531						[120]
2003	1,373	200,517	81,146						[121]
2004	1,674	92,617	37,481						[122]
2005	998	185,748	75,170						[123]
2006	1,579	410,060	165,950						[124]
2007	1,268	214,925	86,977						[125]
2008	1,303	147,264	59,596						[126]
2009	1,976	77,250	31,260						[127]
2010	870	56,820	22,990						[128]
2011	993	17,480	7,070						[129]
2012	1,342	259,526	105,026						[130]
2013	1,527	152,603	61,756						[131]
2014	1,480	386,972	156,602	300	1				[132]
2015	2,013	1,137,664	460,396	3	4		$253 million[133]		[134]
2016	1,272	293,717	118,863						[135]
2017	1,346	404,223	163,583						[136]
2018	1,743	438,833	177,589						[137]
2019	1,394	169,742	68,692						[138]
2020	1,646	842,370	340,895	181	1				[139]
2021	1,863	674,222	272,848						[140]
2022	1,492	173,659	70,277						[141]
2023	1,707	151,316	61,235					Preliminary data as of October[142] was higher than the end of the season reported numbers.	[143]
Sources: National Interagency Fire Center[144]

Notes

1. Complex of two fires.
2. Excludes acreage in British Columbia.
3. Complex of four fires.
4. The Tatoosh Complex burned 51,671 acres in total, of which 37,506 acres were within Washington State.^[78]
5. The Tripod Fire (45,053 acres) and Spur Peak Fire (62,173 acres) burned together on August 19, 2006, and continued to grow as one fire until October 3.