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The 2020 August Complex Wildfire was the largest California wildfire in recorded history. It burned a total of
1,032,648 acres (417,898 ha) over the course of 87 days. In total, it destroyed 935 structures, caused 1 (firefighter) death (7), and cost over $319.8 million (9).
SUMMARY
The August Complex fire began on August 16 and 17 as a collection of smaller fires caused by lightning strikes from the Tropical Storm Fausto. Most of these fires were burning in the Mendocino county area (as well as some area in the Tehama, Glenn, and Lake counties). The largest of these fires was the Doe fire which (at the time) independently became the largest fire and the largest fire complex in recorded California history on September 9th (7). The Doe fire burned different dry fuels such as conifer, shrubs, and grass (8). The intensity of the Doe fire and the August Complex fire was largely caused by the effects human-caused climate change; a lack of water due to the late offset of Autumn rain made shrubs and other plants significantly drier hence making them far easier to burn and directly fueling the fire (5). Containment efforts (primarily directed towards the Doe fire) were successful at reaching over 50% containment by late August by which time the Doe fire had merged with most of the other fires in the August Complex. At some points, aircraft containment operations were hindered by both the extremely smoky conditions around the fire and a major heat wave.
As the August Complex fire progressed throughout September, it combined with yet more fires and burned hundreds of thousands more acres of land. By the beginning of the month, evacuation orders had already been issued for the entirety of Glenn County. On September 1, 242,941 acres had been burned by the complex which was at 20% containment, and by September 29, total burned area had increased to 938,044 acres at 43% containment (2). During this time, additional evacuation orders were issued in Mendocino County, Lake County, and Humboldt County. Fire containment efforts were difficult during October due to reduced rainfall caused by the La Niña event at the time, but on November 11, the fire was fully extinguished at 100% containment (1).
"The Doe Fire joined with several other smaller fires to form the August Complex, which burned 417,890 ha between 16 August and final containment on 15 November(mamsl = meters above mean sea level)." (8)
KEY ISSUES
Causes & Climate Change
The August Complex wildfire, as well as many other recent California wildfires, imply major environmental impacts as a result of human-caused climate change. Between 1972 and 2018, annual wildfire-burned area in California increased by 405%, primarily as a result of an 8x increase in forest fires during the summertime (10).
As humans burn fossil fuels as a source of energy, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels rise in the atmosphere, which leads to increased global temperatures and other indirect effects on the climate. In the context of California wildfires, this warming means that the atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) increases which in turn causes plants to dry out more quickly (particularly in the hottest days during the summer). This dryness makes those plants powerful fuels for large wildfires such as the Doe fire and the entire August Complex. Moreover, the forest-fire area grows exponentially in relation to VPD; this means that over time, human-caused climate change has become more and more impactful on the fire season, hence the major rise of size and intensity of California wildfires in recent years/decades. Additionally, as this trend of climate warming continues, the scale and force of California wildfires will continue to grow at an exponential rate.
The August Complex wildfire was a result of such climate change/warming as well as other fall weather conditions; lightning strikes from the Tropical Storm Fausto as well as late fall rains were the other major causes of the August Complex fire. While climate change has not had as significant of a direct impact on such weather conditions, their effects were indeed amplified by the dryer fuels from the summer.
Limited Firefighting Resources
Another important problem highlighted and exacerbated by fires like the August Complex is California's limited firefighting resources. As the frequency, size, and overall impact of large California wildfires grow, firefighting resources become strained more and more, and containment efforts for recent fires have struggled to keep up with such rapid growth. The 8 largest wildfires in California's recorded history have occurred in the last 6 years alone (7). The price of California firefighting resources has been increasing dramatically since around 2012, particularly expenditures on emergency firefighting funds (6). In fiscal year 2021 (July 2020 to June 2021 - including the August Complex fire timeline), over $3 billion was spent on wildfires by the California Department of Forestry and Fire, and approximately $1.3 billion was allocated to emergency fire suppression. The emergency fire suppression portion of the budget is dedicated to all firefighting operations that lasted past the first 24 hours of a wildfire (these are considered uncontrolled fires). This was all-time record spending which has been growing alongside increased fire danger.
The department also expanded its firefighting force by almost 3,000 temporary firefighters in 2020 to account for the increased number and size of wildfires (4). The Covid-19 pandemic placed even further strain on the firefighting force particularly around 2020 and 2021, and there have been ongoing worries of staffing shortages. Another large cause of staffing issues is the low pay for firefighters; even after pay increases the issue seems to persist however. Government funding has helped relax the issue to an extent, but even increased funding has not been a strong enough force to curb the issue. Increased funding, outreach, and other resources are crucial in ensuring the success of future firefighting operations. As of 2021, approximately 27,000 firefighters were deployed across the West, and those firefighters were supported by federal agencies, out-of-state firefighters, soldiers, and national guardsmen. While exact estimates for the number of needed firefighters are still unknown due to fairly unpredictable fire outlook, the current headcount definitely falls short. Until these issues are properly addressed and resolved, worries about future fires, safety, and environmental impacts will persist.
"Seasonal and annual burned areas in California for 1972–2018. (a) Total burned area in the four regions of focus: (b) North Coast, (c) Sierra Nevada, (d) Central Coast, and (e) South Coast. Annual burned area is decomposed into that which occurred in January–April (green), May–September (red), and October–December (orange). Significant (p < 0.05) trends are shown as bold black curves." (10)
Cal Fire emergency fund fire suppression expenditures
"Chart: Yoohyun Jung / The Chronicle Source: Cal Fire
The years represent state fiscal years, which start in July and end in June. Data is not adjusted for inflation. Updated November 2021." (6)
SOURCES
August Complex (Includes Doe Fire) | CAL FIRE. https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/16/august-complex-includes-doe-fire/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.
August Complex North Zone Fire Update 9.29.20 - InciWeb the Incident Information System. 29 Sept. 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20200929205621/https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6983/57181/.
August Complex Update 08/29/20 - InciWeb the Incident Information System. 12 Sept. 2020, https://web.archive.org/web/20200912201528/https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/6983/54405/.
Canon, Gabrielle. “California Firefighters ‘Stretched to Limit’ as Devastating Blazes Become the Norm.” The Guardian, 3 Sept. 2021. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/03/california-firefighters-stretched-to-limit-as-devastating-blazes-become-the-norm.
Goss, Michael, et al. “Climate Change Is Increasing the Likelihood of Extreme Autumn Wildfire Conditions across California.” Environmental Research Letters, vol. 15, no. 9, Aug. 2020, p. 094016. Institute of Physics, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab83a7.
Jung, By Yoohyun. “California Spent over $1 Billion on Emergency Wildfire Suppression Last Year.” San Francisco Chronicle, 13 July 2021, https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/California-s-emergency-wildfire-suppression-16310359.php.
Statistics | CAL FIRE. https://www.fire.ca.gov/our-impact/statistics. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.
Varga, Kevin, et al. “Megafires in a Warming World: What Wildfire Risk Factors Led to California’s Largest Recorded Wildfire.” Fire, vol. 5, no. 1, 1, Feb. 2022, p. 16. www.mdpi.com, https://doi.org/10.3390/fire5010016.
Wayback Machine. 23 Dec. 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20221223082933/https://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/intelligence/2020_statssumm/annual_report_2020.pdf.
Williams, A. Park, et al. “Observed Impacts of Anthropogenic Climate Change on Wildfire in California.” Earth’s Future, vol. 7, no. 8, 2019, pp. 892–910. Wiley Online Library, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019EF001210.
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