Las Pilitas Fire

Wildfire in San Luis Obispo County, July 1985

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/3918/las-pilitas-fire-1985

Key facts

Started July 1, 1985
Contained July 15, 1985, after 14 days
Burned 84,271 acres
2nd largest fire of 1985 and 67th largest in California's records
Cause Equipment use
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Where it burned

County

  1. San Luis Obispo County 84,271 acres

Communities

  1. San Luis Obispo 277 acres
  2. Santa Margarita 72 acres

Acres are the land the fire burned in each county and community, and places where it burned less than an acre are not listed. Communities are cities, towns and the unincorporated places the Census Bureau names, so land outside any of them is counted only in its county.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1917 Unnamed fire 10,055 acres in total 1,535 acres shared
  2. 1921 Unnamed fire 63,910 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 10,538 acres shared
  3. 1922 Unnamed fire 12,545 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 12,372 acres shared
  4. 1922 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 1,949 acres shared
  5. 1924 Unnamed fire 11,612 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 601 acres shared
  6. 1928 Unnamed fire 18,128 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 10,018 acres shared
  7. 1929 Unnamed fire 16,280 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 11,409 acres shared
  8. 1932 Unnamed fire 567 acres shared
  9. 1947 Unnamed fire 762 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 751 acres shared
  10. 1950 Pilitas #1 Fire 22,845 acres in total 3,516 acres shared
  11. 1951 Buckman Fire 5,240 acres in total 3,424 acres shared
  12. 1951 Buckman Fire 4,299 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 3,390 acres shared
  13. 1979 River Road Fire 663 acres in total 642 acres shared
  14. 1981 Gay Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 1,843 acres shared
  15. 1984 Morretti Fire 1,318 acres in total 1,046 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 1987 Pilitas Blm-1836 Fire 1,224 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 668 acres shared
  2. 1988 Cdf 807 Fire 6,349 acres in total 1,979 acres shared
  3. 1994 Hwy 41 Fire 50,729 acres in total · Cause: Arson 10,338 acres shared
  4. 2015 Parkhill Fire 1,812 acres in total · Cause: Vehicle 1,683 acres shared
  5. 2015 Cuesta Fire Cause: Vehicle 2,430 acres shared

And 62 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Las Pilitas Fire, and fires that shared less than an acre are not counted. Some older or smaller fires may be missing, and a fire perimeter can include unburned patches. How to read fire history

Sources

Fire history
CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program
Published 28 July 2026
Building damage
CAL FIRE Damage Inspection
Updated 19 October 2026

This site is independent and not affiliated with CAL FIRE or the CPUC, so for an official determination, check with the agency or your city or county. How we read the data