Cerrito Fire

Wildfire in Riverside County, May 2004

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/6014/cerrito-fire-2004

Key facts

Started May 3, 2004
Contained May 7, 2004, after 4 days
Burned 16,447 acres
3rd largest fire of 2004
Cause Playing with fire
Open map

Where it burned

County

  1. Riverside County 16,447 acres

Communities

  1. Lake Elsinore 1,409 acres
  2. Temescal Valley 870 acres
  3. Good Hope 461 acres
  4. Meadowbrook 180 acres
  5. Lake Mathews 162 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. 1922 Unnamed fire 670 acres in total 218 acres shared
  2. 1944 Unnamed fire 12,473 acres in total 6,798 acres shared
  3. 1945 Unnamed fire 6,839 acres in total 4,510 acres shared
  4. 1957 Fiasco Fire 7,310 acres in total 5,078 acres shared
  5. 1958 Morey Fire 2,662 acres in total 2,437 acres shared
  6. 1962 Unnamed fire 2,653 acres in total 2,387 acres shared
  7. 1970 Terrace Hill Fire 1,848 acres in total 756 acres shared
  8. 1978 Unnamed fire 3,416 acres in total 1,627 acres shared
  9. 1978 Estelle Fire 786 acres in total 491 acres shared
  10. 1978 Estelle Fire 3,080 acres in total 2,692 acres shared
  11. 1979 Unnamed fire 354 acres in total 244 acres shared
  12. 1980 Lake #2 Fire 1,216 acres in total 1,084 acres shared
  13. 1981 Unnamed fire 340 acres in total 253 acres shared
  14. 1981 Dawson Fire 8,000 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 5,113 acres shared
  15. 1985 Gavalin Fire Cause: Equipment use 463 acres shared
  16. 1988 Corona State #983 Fire 913 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 456 acres shared
  17. 1988 State #2428 Fire Cause: Equipment use 1,445 acres shared
  18. 1995 Maywood Fire 454 acres in total 297 acres shared
  19. 1995 Nichols Fire 1,264 acres in total · Cause: Vehicle 385 acres shared
  20. 1995 Dawson Fire 4,718 acres in total · Cause: Playing with fire 3,206 acres shared

And 32 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Cerrito 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