2021 California wildfires

The California Wildfires 2021 are a series of wildfires. They burned in wild parts of California in the United States. As of July 26, 2021, a total of 5,566 fires happened , with 458,429 acres (185,520 ha) burned in California. Brushfires destroyed at least 323 buildings, and at least 7 firefighters were hurt fighting the fires.

California's wildfire season started earlier in 2021 than it had in other years. There was a long drought and much less rainfall than usual. The reservoirs were also lower than usual. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said that, in January 2021 alone, 297 fires happened across 1,171 acres (4.74 km2) of non-federal land. This is almost three times the number of fires than the five-year average. It is more than 20 times the area of the five-year average. The January fires were worse because of strong Santa Ana winds. Some of the fires burned in the same areas as previous fires.

The long-term trend is that wildfires in the state are on the increase due to climate change. There were more fires in 2021 than in 2020 season, which in itself was the largest season in the state's recorded history. As of July 11, more than three times as many acres were burned than in 2020. Experts said drought, extreme heat, and less snow in the winter made the fires burn worse. The state also faces an increased risk of landslides after wildfires because the plants that hold the earth in place have burned and died.