Fort/Copper Fire (1987): burned area, damage and fire history

Key facts

Started	August 30, 1987
Contained	October 7, 1987, after 38 days
Burned	30,975 acres 8th largest fire of 1987
Cause	Lightning

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Where it burned

County

Siskiyou County 30,972 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

1937 Seiad Creek Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 16 acres shared
1939 Portuguese #2 Fire 16 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 15 acres shared
1943 Darkey Creek Fire Cause: Lightning 14 acres shared
1951 Three Devils Fire 10,487 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 8,501 acres shared
1955 Dee Fire 54 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 51 acres shared
1956 Fehely Fire Cause: Debris burning 27 acres shared
1984 Tecnor Fire Cause: Lightning 21 acres shared

Burned again

2006 Goff Fire Cause: Lightning 235 acres shared
2009 Sims Fire 170 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 50 acres shared
2012 Goff Fire 22,267 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 20,571 acres shared
2017 Cedar Fire 9,129 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 41 acres shared
2017 Abney Fire 32,893 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 6,267 acres shared
2020 Devil Fire 8,872 acres in total 5,668 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Fort/Copper 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