Butte Fire

Wildfire in Calaveras and Amador counties, September 2015

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/7476/butte-fire-2015

Key facts

Started September 9, 2015
Contained September 28, 2015, after 19 days
Burned 70,847 acres
3rd largest fire of 2015 and 81st largest in California's records
Cause Not recorded
Buildings 928 destroyed, 36 damaged
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Calaveras County 67,272 acres
  2. Amador County 3,572 acres

Communities

  1. Rail Road Flat 2,395 acres
  2. Mountain Ranch 1,587 acres
  3. Mokelumne Hill 939 acres
  4. Glencoe 703 acres
  5. San Andreas 283 acres
  6. Pine Grove 95 acres
  7. Sheep Ranch 3 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.

Buildings damaged

  1. Destroyed Over 50% damaged 928
  2. Major damage 25 to 50% damaged 5
  3. Minor damage 10 to 25% damaged 6
  4. Affected Up to 10% damaged 25

Buildings CAL FIRE inspected after the fire, by how badly each was damaged. Inspectors record homes, businesses and outbuildings within 100 meters of the fire, and cannot always reach every one, so the counts can differ slightly from other reports.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1950 Lombardi Fire 445 acres shared
  2. 1950 Frecerro Fire 1,652 acres in total 1,405 acres shared
  3. 1952 Murray Creek Fire 907 acres shared
  4. 1954 Dell Orto Escape Fire 380 acres in total 369 acres shared
  5. 1954 Zwinge Fire 437 acres in total 419 acres shared
  6. 1955 Lombardi Fire 265 acres shared
  7. 1955 Oneil Creek Fire 316 acres shared
  8. 1957 Old Gulch Fire 874 acres in total 639 acres shared
  9. 1957 Clinton Trail Fire 666 acres in total 383 acres shared
  10. 1961 Garland Fire 576 acres shared
  11. 1964 Mexican Gulch #2 Fire 392 acres shared
  12. 1968 Cave City Fire 630 acres shared
  13. 1972 Chili Gulch Fire 1,118 acres in total 839 acres shared
  14. 1990 Butte Pg&E #24 Fire 692 acres in total 633 acres shared
  15. 1992 Fricot Fire 264 acres shared
  16. 1992 Gulch Fire 17,419 acres in total · Cause: Vehicle 4,253 acres shared
  17. 1995 Murray Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 272 acres shared
  18. 2001 Leonard Fire 5,188 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 4,966 acres shared
  19. 2008 Electra Fire Cause: Power lines 250 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2022 Electra Fire 4,466 acres in total 4,411 acres shared

And 15 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the Butte 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