Alisal Fire

Wildfire in Santa Barbara County, October 2021

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8285/alisal-fire-2021

Key facts

Started October 11, 2021
Contained December 1, 2021, after 51 days
Burned 16,953 acres
14th largest fire of 2021
Cause Lightning
Buildings 12 destroyed, 1 damaged
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Where it burned

County

  1. Santa Barbara County 16,947 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 12
  2. 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. 1916 Unnamed fire 527 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 488 acres shared
  2. 1925 El Capitan Fire 401 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 7 acres shared
  3. 1926 Los Cruces Fire 4,607 acres in total · Cause: Arson 166 acres shared
  4. 1926 Refugio Fire 194 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 181 acres shared
  5. 1955 Refugio Fire 79,429 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 16,521 acres shared
  6. 2000 Hondo Fire 11 acres in total 8 acres shared
  7. 2001 Correl Fire 29 acres in total 28 acres shared
  8. 2004 Gaviota Fire 7,198 acres in total · Cause: Lightning 3,510 acres shared
  9. 2007 Mariposa Fire 188 acres in total · Cause: Power lines 19 acres shared
  10. 2016 Sherpa Fire 7,466 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 3,321 acres shared
  11. 2019 Real Fire 421 acres in total 96 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2024 Refugio Fire 73 acres in total 72 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Alisal 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