River Complex

Wildfire in Trinity and Siskiyou counties, July 2021

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8258/river-complex-2021

Key facts

Started July 31, 2021
Contained October 25, 2021, after 86 days
Burned 199,354 acres
4th largest fire of 2021 and 19th largest in California's records
Cause Lightning
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Trinity County 99,897 acres
  2. Siskiyou County 99,364 acres

Community

  1. Coffee Creek 1,231 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. 1917 Unnamed fire 1,774 acres in total 1,501 acres shared
  2. 1922 Unnamed fire 6,353 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 3,942 acres shared
  3. 1924 Unnamed fire 557 acres shared
  4. 1946 Boulder Gulch Fire 1,655 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 1,345 acres shared
  5. 1955 Six Mile Fire 5,848 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 3,501 acres shared
  6. 1955 Taylor Creek Fire Cause: Lightning 1,134 acres shared
  7. 1977 Hog Fire 58,365 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 3,775 acres shared
  8. 1985 Wagner Complex Cause: Lightning 1,335 acres shared
  9. 1987 Unnamed fire 1,734 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 772 acres shared
  10. 1987 Saint Claire Fire 8,833 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 8,669 acres shared
  11. 1987 China Fire 8,909 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 7,921 acres shared
  12. 1987 Strause Fire 8,627 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 6,977 acres shared
  13. 1987 Yellow Fire 51,060 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 5,446 acres shared
  14. 1987 Backbone Fire 1,076 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 802 acres shared
  15. 2006 Bake-Oven Fire 65,050 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 22,695 acres shared
  16. 2006 Rush Fire 4,872 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 4,675 acres shared
  17. 2008 Caribou Fire 13,127 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 10,998 acres shared
  18. 2011 Onion Fire Cause: Lightning 561 acres shared
  19. 2013 Salmon Complex 14,786 acres in total · Cause: Arson 5,877 acres shared
  20. 2014 Coffee Fire 6,256 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 4,619 acres shared

And 45 more fires that burned less of the same land. Acres are the land each fire shares with the River Complex, 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