W-5 Cold Springs Fire

Wildfire in Lassen and Modoc counties, August 2020

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8144/w-5-cold-springs-fire-2020

Key facts

Started August 18, 2020
Contained September 13, 2020, after 26 days
Burned 84,818 acres
12th largest fire of 2020 and 66th largest in California's records
Cause Lightning
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Lassen County 63,695 acres
  2. Modoc County 6,451 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. 1910 Hat Mt. Fire 347 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 317 acres shared
  2. 1931 Camp 1 Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 447 acres shared
  3. 1944 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 23 acres shared
  4. 1945 Unnamed fire 77 acres in total 34 acres shared
  5. 1945 Bare Cr. Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 310 acres shared
  6. 1961 North Creek Fire 859 acres shared
  7. 1995 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 464 acres shared
  8. 1995 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 103 acres shared
  9. 1995 Unnamed fire 49 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 31 acres shared
  10. 1997 Boot Fire Cause: Escaped prescribed burn 17 acres shared
  11. 1997 Boot Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 16 acres shared
  12. 1997 Boot Fire Cause: Escaped prescribed burn 3 acres shared
  13. 1999 Copper Fire Cause: Lightning 12 acres shared
  14. 2003 Dodge Fire Cause: Lightning 40 acres shared
  15. 2003 Barber Fire 1,267 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 119 acres shared
  16. 2004 Snake Fire Cause: Lightning 471 acres shared
  17. 2012 Red Fire 12 acres shared
  18. 2013 Clarks Fire 65 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 22 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2025 S-14 Fire 44 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the W-5 Cold Springs 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