U.S. Wildfires

Losses, 2024 dollars

$1.8 billion

Losses at the time

$1.2 billion

Deaths

16

The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.

• Wildfire in New Jersey, September 1 to 3, 20081 eventA wildfire continued to burn 3200 acres of woodland on the Fort Dix Military Base just on the Ocean County side of the base in early September. The fire started in a containment area of the base and was first reported on August 28th.
• Wildfire in Idaho, September 1 to 25, 20081 eventThe Willow wildland fire use fire began with a lightning strike on July 14th and was allowed to continue to burn through September 25th. It burned 4,510 acres of timber. It was located just west of Island Park or 12 miles south of Henry's Lake.
• Wildfire in Idaho, September 1 to 3, 20081 eventThe Flag Knoll wildland fire use fire began with a lightning strike on July 21st and was allowed to burn through September 3rd when rain ended it. It burned over 500 acres of timer and brush. No damages were caused by the fire.
• Wildfire in Oregon, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 08/16/08 ignited a round of wildfires across southwest Oregon. The Lonesome Complex fires consisted of the Middle Fork, Lonesome, and Bessie Rock fires. As of 09/01/08, all but the Middle Fork fires were contained.
• Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 06/21/08 ignited numerous fires across northern California. The Siskiyou Complex and the Blue 2 complex were still burning at the end of September...and have been combined as one entity.
• Wildfire in Oregon, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 08/17/08 ignited another round of wildfires across southwest Oregon. The Rattle Fire was initially part of the North Fork Complex, but the other fires were suppressed.
• Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 06/21/08 ignited numerous fires across northern California. They started this day around 4:00 PM, but no resources were directed to this fire until July.
• Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 07/22/08 ignited another round of wildfires across northern California. The Panther Wildfire started this day around 3:00 AM. It was still burning at the end of September.
• Wildfire in California, September 1 to 30, 20081 eventThe Tehipite wildfire was ignited on July 19 at 1215 PST. The cause was lightning. The location was 20 miles northeast of Dunlap in Fresno County in Sequoia National Park. The size was 11,085 acres. The wildfire was ongoing at the end of the month.
• Wildfire in California, September 10 to 30, 20081 eventThe Hidden wildfire was located in Sequoia National Park, 12 miles North-Northeast of Three Rivers in Tulare County, and was ignited on September 10 at 1724 PST. The case was lightning and the size was 3,366 acres. There were no fatalities or property damage.
• Wildfire in California, September 11 to 17, 20081 eventThe Cascadel wildfire was located in the Sierra National Forest. The ignition date was September 11 at 2000 PST. The cause was human, from target shooting. The location was 3 miles East-Northeast of North Fork in Madera County. The size was 280 acres.
• Wildfire in Idaho, September 12 to 17, 20081 eventA prescribed burn of 250 acres jumped to 800 acres due to unexpected winds jumping containment lines. The fire located near Galena closed State Highway 75 for 4 hours on September 12th from 6 pm to 10 pm between Galena Summit and Stanley. The fire was contained on September 17th.
• Wildfire and High Wind in Kentucky, September 14, 200839 injured · $182 million · 68 kt wind · 23 eventsFrequent wind gusts from 60 to nearly 80 mph caused widespread damage in western Kentucky. The low pressure center that was the remnant of Hurricane Ike raced northeast at 40 to 50 mph across Missouri and Illinois. The center passed between Carbondale and St.
• Wildfire in Oregon, September 16 to 30, 20081 eventOn September 16, unusually hot and dry conditions coupled with a persistent thermal belt during the night caused the persistent Gnarl Ridge Fire to make a major run shortly after midnight.
• Wildfire in Oregon, September 17 to 21, 20081 eventA thunderstorm outbreak on 09/17/08 led to several wildfire starts across southern Oregon. The Doubleday fire started at 17/1223 PDT and developed rapidly, threatening the community of Butte Falls. It burned 1275 acres and was contained at 21/1800 PDT.
• Wildfire in Oregon, September 24 to 30, 20081 eventThe wildfire was located about six miles east-southeast of Oakridge, and burned nearly 1000 acres. The cause of the fire was not able to be determined.
• Wildfire in Oregon, October 1 to 15, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 08/16/08 ignited a round of wildfires across southwest Oregon. The Lonesome Complex fires consisted of the Middle Fork, Lonesome, and Bessie Rock fires. As of 09/01/08, all but the Middle Fork fires were contained.
• Wildfire in Oregon, October 1 to 30, 20081 eventLightning from a thunderstorm event on 08/17/08 ignited another round of wildfires across southwest Oregon. The Rattle Fire was initially part of the North Fork Complex, but the other fires were suppressed. The last update on this fire was issued on 10/07/08.
• Wildfire in Texas, October 4, 20081 eventA large wildfire began around 1235 CST about eleven miles north northwest of Chamberlin Texas in northeast Dallam County...or east of U.S. Highway 385 and about one mile southwest of the intersection of Andy James Road and Bowers Lane.
• Wildfire in California, October 12 to 18, 20082 eventsThe combination of very hot temperatures, low relative humidity and gusty offshore winds helped to fuel two significant wildfires in Los Angeles county. The Marek Fire burned 4,824 acres in the Angeles National Forest, just north of Glendale.
• Wildfire in California, October 13 to 15, 20081 injured · $100,000 · 1 eventThe Juliet Fire began at 10:49 AM on October 13th, 2008 at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in Oceanside, California. Mandatory evacuations were in place for several housing areas on the base, as well as portions of Oceanside and Fallbrook.
• Wildfire in California, October 14, 20082 injured · 1 eventThe Shockey Fire began at 2:45 AM on October 14th, 2008 in Morena Village, CA along Highway 94 at Shockey Truck Trail. Approximately 300 homes were evacuated in Lake Morena and Campo. The 200 acre fire was contained by 6 PM. No structures were damaged or destroyed.
• Wildfire in New Jersey, October 21 to 27, 20087 injured · 3 eventsThe Sauder Ditch Wildfire, consumed about 1950 acres of forest before it was contained. The fire began in a secluded section of Wharton State Forest in Waterford Township (Camden County) close to 3 p.m. EDT on the 21st. This location is west of U.S.
• Wildfire in New Jersey, October 23 to 24, 20081 eventAn additional unrelated wildfire occurred On October 23rd in Gloucester County. A wildfire started on that afternoon in the Winslow Wildlife Management Area in Monroe Township near the border with Camden County. The Black Horse Pike (U.S.
• Debris Flow and Strong Wind in California, November 1, 20081 death · 5 injured · $81,000 · 5 eventsA warm winter storm brought heavy rain to Northern and Central California inducing debris flows over recent fire scarred areas, causing power outages, downing trees and causing numerous traffic collisions.
• Wildfire in Colorado, November 2, 20081 injured · 1 eventWind whipped a small burn pile near Meeker into a wildfire.
• Wildfire in Texas, November 6, 2008$71,000 · 1 eventThis wildfire began about 1315 CST roughly fourteen miles west of Wayside in southeast Randall County. The wildfire was located just east of Interstate 27 and just south of Farm to Market Road 285 in which approximately one hundred acres burned.
• Wildfire in Georgia, November 7 to 13, 2008$130,000 · 3 eventsA long term persistent drought across north and central Georgia, along with an extended period of dry, cold weather from late October through mid-November resulted in an increased fire danger across the state. Several wildfires were reported during mid-month by the U.S.
• Debris Flow and Flooding in Washington, November 12 to 15, 2008$2.8 million · 5 eventsHeavy rain caused flooding on 15 western Washington rivers, with eight river forecast points reaching major flood stage.
• Debris Flow and Flooding in Oregon, November 12 to 13, 2008$3.8 million · 4 eventsHeavy rainfall, fueled by a tropical moisture source that had origins in the west Pacific, drenched the region over the course of a few days. This heavy rainfall caused flooding along multiple rivers in northwest Oregon.
• Wildfire and High Wind in California, November 13 to 20, 2008$7.0 million · 63 kt wind · 10 eventsAn extended period of offshore winds affected Southern California. North to northeast wind gusts in excess of 65 MPH were reported in some areas. The strong winds, combined with very dry conditions, helped fuel two significant wildfires.
• Wildfire in Texas, November 14, 20081 eventThe County Road 44 wildfire began about 1313 CST roughly seven miles east southeast of Hartley in eastern Hartley County. The fire was located south of U.S. Highway 87 but just north of County Road Q and just east of County Road 44.
• Wildfire in California, November 15 to 19, 200814 injured · $150 million · 2 eventsThe Freeway Complex Fire began in the Santa Ana River bottom near Corona on November 15, 2008. Dry, Santa Ana winds caused the fire to quickly spread into the Chino Hills and the nearby cities of Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, and Brea.
• Wildfire in Hawaii, November 18 to 22, 20082 eventsA power line, probably downed by high winds, ignited a fire on the isle of Lanai that blackened 1000 acres of brush. The blaze forced county officials to evacuate about 600 residents and guests of the Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay for a brief time as a precaution.
• Debris Flows in Puerto Rico, November 23, 20082 eventsAbundant low level moisture associated with the remnants of a frontal boundary combined with daytime heating and orographic effects to produced scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms across the eastern interior and western interior sections of Puerto Rico.

Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2008Tornadoes in 2008

NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.