Sheep Fire

Wildfire in Lassen and Plumas counties, August 2020

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8136/sheep-fire-2020

Key facts

Started August 17, 2020
Contained September 7, 2020, after 21 days
Burned 29,541 acres
23rd largest fire of 2020
Cause Lightning
Buildings 26 destroyed, 2 damaged
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Lassen County 21,822 acres
  2. Plumas County 7,719 acres

Community

  1. Johnstonville 345 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 26
  2. Affected Up to 10% damaged 2

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. 1920 Unnamed fire 357 acres shared
  2. 1924 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 1,010 acres shared
  3. 1930 Unnamed fire 155 acres shared
  4. 1932 Unnamed fire 208 acres in total 77 acres shared
  5. 2001 Devil Fire 4,254 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 31 acres shared
  6. 2003 Diane Fire 221 acres in total · Cause: Arson 182 acres shared
  7. 2006 Cheney Incident Fire 647 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 12 acres shared
  8. 2006 Creek Incident Fire 1,612 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 1,173 acres shared
  9. 2007 Moonlight Fire 64,960 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 3,913 acres shared
  10. 2016 Willard Fire 2,574 acres in total 343 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2021 Dixie Fire 963,405 acres in total · Cause: Power lines 617 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Sheep 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