Hwy 41 Fire

Wildfire in San Luis Obispo County, August 1994

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/4815/hwy-41-fire-1994

Key facts

Started August 14, 1994
Contained August 18, 1994, after 4 days
Burned 50,729 acres
Largest fire of 1994
Cause Arson
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Where it burned

County

  1. San Luis Obispo County 50,729 acres

Communities

  1. Garden Farms 416 acres
  2. Atascadero 292 acres
  3. Santa Margarita 25 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. 1913 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 587 acres shared
  2. 1915 Unnamed fire 278 acres shared
  3. 1921 Unnamed fire 5,931 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 4,690 acres shared
  4. 1922 Unnamed fire 12,545 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 4,032 acres shared
  5. 1922 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 1,949 acres shared
  6. 1923 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 699 acres shared
  7. 1924 Unnamed fire 303 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 269 acres shared
  8. 1929 Unnamed fire 245 acres shared
  9. 1930 Unnamed fire 232 acres shared
  10. 1931 Unnamed fire 539 acres in total 511 acres shared
  11. 1939 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 6,506 acres shared
  12. 1941 Unnamed fire 609 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 328 acres shared
  13. 1951 Buckman Fire 5,240 acres in total 4,953 acres shared
  14. 1955 Toro Creek Fire 1,221 acres in total 657 acres shared
  15. 1982 Eagle Rock Fire Cause: Equipment use 231 acres shared
  16. 1985 Unnamed fire Cause: Equipment use 417 acres shared
  17. 1985 Las Pilitas Fire 84,271 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 10,338 acres shared
  18. 1985 El Chorro Fire 336 acres in total 293 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2003 Cuesta Fire Cause: Vehicle 238 acres shared
  2. 2015 Cuesta Fire Cause: Vehicle 2,445 acres shared

And 22 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Hwy 41 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