Btu Lightning Complex

Wildfire in Butte, Plumas and Tehama counties, July 2008

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/6715/btu-lightning-complex-2008

Key facts

Started July 2, 2008
Contained July 24, 2008, after 22 days
Burned 53,699 acres
4th largest fire of 2008
Cause Lightning
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Butte County 35,852 acres
  2. Plumas County 16,510 acres
  3. Tehama County 1,323 acres

Communities

  1. Concow 14,149 acres
  2. Tobin 22 acres
  3. Belden 5 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. 1917 Unnamed fire 12,701 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 1,323 acres shared
  2. 1918 Unnamed fire 1,312 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 640 acres shared
  3. 1922 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 865 acres shared
  4. 1929 Unnamed fire 1,945 acres in total 1,642 acres shared
  5. 1945 Unnamed fire 6,358 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 259 acres shared
  6. 1951 Carlyle Fire 467 acres shared
  7. 1951 Milk Ranch Fire 21,979 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 1,184 acres shared
  8. 1957 Chambers Creek Fire 432 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 277 acres shared
  9. 1966 Lassen Nf/Concow Rd2 Fire 3,345 acres in total 3,247 acres shared
  10. 1972 Pulga Fire 395 acres shared
  11. 1972 Unnamed fire 344 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 267 acres shared
  12. 1978 Unnamed fire 2,596 acres in total · Cause: Railroad 1,027 acres shared
  13. 1999 Bucks Fire 34,236 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 1,066 acres shared
  14. 2000 Storrie Fire 56,076 acres in total · Cause: Railroad 5,947 acres shared
  15. 2001 Highway 70 Fire 1,693 acres in total · Cause: Arson 483 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2012 Chips Fire 76,350 acres in total · Cause: Campfire 481 acres shared
  2. 2016 Tobin Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 248 acres shared
  3. 2018 Camp Fire 153,336 acres in total · Cause: Power lines 28,456 acres shared
  4. 2021 Dixie Fire 963,405 acres in total · Cause: Power lines 14,774 acres shared
  5. 2024 Park Fire 429,603 acres in total · Cause: Arson 1,323 acres shared

And 14 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Btu Lightning Complex, 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