La Brea Fire

Wildfire in Santa Barbara County, August 2009

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/6854/la-brea-fire-2009

Key facts

Started August 8, 2009
Contained August 22, 2009, after 14 days
Burned 97,815 acres
2nd largest fire of 2009 and 48th largest in California's records
Cause Miscellaneous
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Where it burned

County

  1. Santa Barbara County 97,815 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 114,745 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 83,992 acres shared
  2. 1923 Unnamed fire 1,415 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 662 acres shared
  3. 1924 Unnamed fire 5,579 acres in total 538 acres shared
  4. 1926 Unnamed fire 766 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 752 acres shared
  5. 1928 Unnamed fire 2,552 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 1,123 acres shared
  6. 1928 Unnamed fire 356 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 304 acres shared
  7. 1928 Unnamed fire 7,070 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 118 acres shared
  8. 1928 Unnamed fire 113 acres in total 106 acres shared
  9. 1931 Buckhorn Fire 455 acres shared
  10. 1934 Buckhorn Cyn Fire 242 acres shared
  11. 1939 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 195 acres shared
  12. 1953 Big Dalton Fire 67,702 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 17,317 acres shared
  13. 1966 Wellman Fire 97,118 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 23,312 acres shared
  14. 1966 Schoolhouse Fire 2,699 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 433 acres shared
  15. 1975 Unnamed fire 1,527 acres in total · Cause: Arson 1,394 acres shared
  16. 1999 Spanish Fire 22,296 acres in total 6,367 acres shared
  17. 2006 Bald Fire Cause: Lightning 4,322 acres shared
  18. 2008 Buckhorn Fire Cause: Lightning 199 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2011 Figuero Fire 676 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 657 acres shared
  2. 2025 Gifford Fire 131,614 acres in total 13,616 acres shared

And 7 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the La Brea 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