Onion Fire

Wildfire in Trinity County, August 1999

Search for an address

Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/5437/onion-fire-1999

Key facts

Started August 23, 1999
Contained September 1, 1999, after 9 days
Burned 15,961 acres
12th largest fire of 1999
Cause Lightning
Open map

Where it burned

County

  1. Trinity County 15,961 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. 1931 Devils Canyon Fire 25 acres in total · Cause: Debris burning 24 acres shared
  2. 1991 Unnamed fire 433 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 408 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2008 Ironside Fire 12,834 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 118 acres shared
  2. 2008 Denny Fire Cause: Lightning 43 acres shared
  3. 2015 Happy Fire 68,095 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 15,715 acres shared
  4. 2021 Monument Fire 223,108 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 3,873 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Onion 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