Chips Fire

Wildfire in Plumas County, July 2012

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/7150/chips-fire-2012

Key facts

Started July 28, 2012
Contained August 31, 2012, after 34 days
Burned 76,350 acres
3rd largest fire of 2012 and 79th largest in California's records
Cause Campfire
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Where it burned

County

  1. Plumas County 76,344 acres

Communities

  1. Belden 173 acres
  2. Caribou 104 acres
  3. Canyondam 59 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. 1900 Unnamed fire 419 acres shared
  2. 1918 Unnamed fire 2,495 acres in total 168 acres shared
  3. 1921 Unnamed fire 765 acres shared
  4. 1923 Unnamed fire 323 acres shared
  5. 1926 Unnamed fire 306 acres shared
  6. 1926 Unnamed fire 205 acres shared
  7. 1926 Unnamed fire 156 acres shared
  8. 1928 Unnamed fire 270 acres shared
  9. 1939 Unnamed fire 668 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 402 acres shared
  10. 1960 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 4,917 acres shared
  11. 1973 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 6 acres shared
  12. 1984 Unnamed fire 68 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 24 acres shared
  13. 2000 Storrie Fire 56,076 acres in total · Cause: Railroad 25,127 acres shared
  14. 2008 Btu Lightning Complex 53,699 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 481 acres shared
  15. 2008 Rich Fire 6,111 acres in total · Cause: Railroad 937 acres shared
  16. 2010 Bar Fire 1,039 acres in total · Cause: Arson 1 acre shared
  17. 2010 Rock Fire 62 acres in total · Cause: Arson 61 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2018 Murphy Fire 117 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 112 acres shared
  2. 2021 Dixie Fire 963,405 acres in total · Cause: Power lines 70,092 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Chips 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