Tamarack Fire

Wildfire in Alpine County, July 2021

Search for an address

Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8242/tamarack-fire-2021

Key facts

Started July 4, 2021
Contained October 26, 2021, after 114 days
Burned 67,055 acres
11th largest fire of 2021 and 89th largest in California's records
Cause Lightning
Buildings 15 destroyed, 2 damaged
Open map

Where it burned

Counties

  1. Alpine County 52,138 acres
  2. Mono County 156 acres

Communities

  1. Markleeville 3,363 acres
  2. Alpine Village 272 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 15
  2. Minor damage 10 to 25% damaged 1
  3. Affected Up to 10% damaged 1

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. 1946 Unnamed fire 204 acres shared
  2. 1947 Unnamed fire 14,395 acres in total 8,202 acres shared
  3. 1948 Unnamed fire 302 acres in total 297 acres shared
  4. 1949 Unnamed fire 8,817 acres in total 7,043 acres shared
  5. 1964 Unnamed fire Cause: Equipment use 268 acres shared
  6. 1970 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 8 acres shared
  7. 1971 Unnamed fire Cause: Smoking 97 acres shared
  8. 1974 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 487 acres shared
  9. 1984 Unnamed fire 805 acres in total · Cause: Arson 332 acres shared
  10. 1984 Unnamed fire 16,668 acres in total · Cause: Arson 844 acres shared
  11. 1984 Unnamed fire 152 acres in total · Cause: Arson 111 acres shared
  12. 1985 Unnamed fire 740 acres shared
  13. 1987 Unnamed fire 6,350 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 514 acres shared
  14. 1987 Unnamed fire Cause: Debris burning 28 acres shared
  15. 1989 Unnamed fire Cause: Lightning 114 acres shared
  16. 1992 Unnamed fire 117 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 115 acres shared
  17. 2015 Washington Fire 17,780 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 339 acres shared
  18. 2017 Slinkard Fire 8,924 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 36 acres shared
  19. 2019 Airport 2 Fire 21 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Tamarack 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