Wild Fire

Wildfire in Monterey County, October 1996

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/5153/wild-fire-1996

Key facts

Started October 7, 1996
Contained October 18, 1996, after 11 days
Burned 25,512 acres
4th largest fire of 1996
Cause Arson
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Where it burned

County

  1. Monterey County 25,510 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. 1912 Unnamed fire 277 acres in total 88 acres shared
  2. 1913 Unnamed fire 134 acres in total 29 acres shared
  3. 1914 Unnamed fire 2,384 acres in total 1,720 acres shared
  4. 1915 Unnamed fire 702 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 669 acres shared
  5. 1921 Unnamed fire 363 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 40 acres shared
  6. 1922 Unnamed fire 475 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 432 acres shared
  7. 1923 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 550 acres shared
  8. 1943 Unnamed fire 3,578 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 1,169 acres shared
  9. 1970 Buckeye Fire 42,308 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 217 acres shared
  10. 1975 Miguel Fire 7,094 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 3,726 acres shared
  11. 1976 Nacimiento Fire 265 acres in total · Cause: Debris burning 1 acre shared
  12. 1977 Alms Fire 738 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 615 acres shared
  13. 1979 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 573 acres shared
  14. 1979 Nacimiento Fire 6,070 acres in total · Cause: Arson 1,030 acres shared
  15. 1985 Gorda-Rat Fire 56,158 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 4 acres shared
  16. 1992 Unnamed fire 2,458 acres in total 2,426 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2000 Plaskett 2 Fire 5,812 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 25 acres shared
  2. 2008 Chalk Fire 16,266 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 3,046 acres shared
  3. 2009 Ponderosa Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 351 acres shared
  4. 2020 Dolan Fire 124,527 acres in total 10,579 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Wild 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