Contemporary Fire History

NPS/Calvin Farris

Fires in Lassen Volcanic National Park have been recorded since 1911. Some fire history prior to this date has been revealed by research on burn scars in tree rings. These data provide a baseline for fire frequency prior to start of recorded fire suppression activities that began in 1905. The historic fire regime within the park was classified as mixed severity and occurred every 5 to 15 years, depending on elevation and forest type.

In the 1980s, the park began actively managing fire, primarily within designated Wilderness, to help restore pre-suppression forest structure and composition and support the return of natural fire occurrence. Since then, Lassen Volcanic Fire Management has continued to use various combinations of its 5 fire management strategies to achieve its objectives.

 

Recorded fire history in Lassen Volcanic National Park from 1911 to 2021. This includes lightning-ignited fire (Fire History), prescribed fire (Fire Treatments), and fuel management (Non-Fire Treatments). Click on the map to view a larger version.

NPS

 

Green shading indicates Lassen Volcanic Wilderness, which comprises 75% of the park and primarily excludes road corridors.

Fire in Wilderness

In 1972, Congress designated 74% of the park as Lassen Volcanic Wilderness. The majority of the park, with the exception of road corridors and adjacent developed areas, must now be managed to preserve wilderness character. While largely undeveloped, some natural conditions within the Wilderness Area showed the result of fire suppression efforts instituted in 1904. Forests experienced changes in tree type and density as a result of human-caused changes to the occurrence of natural wildfire. In the 1980s, the park began to use minimal intervention to allow natural ecological processes to occur within Wilderness, including wildfire and regeneration. Learn more about fire in Wilderness across the NPS.

 

Lassen Volcanic Wilderness Fire History

Lightning-ignited fires promote the natural quality of Wilderness by allowing ecological systems to occur with minimal effects of modern civilization. In 1984, Lassen Volcanic managed its first fire within designated Wilderness. Firefighters monitored the lightning-ignited Badger Fire until it spotted across the park boundary and outside of Lassen Volcanic Wilderness. The fire's expansion into the bordering Lassen National Forest resulted in the transition to a collaborative suppression strategy. Suppression ultimately limited fire activity within park Wilderness. While determined necessary for this fire, suppression of naturally-ignited wildfire degrades the untrammeled quality of Wilderness as this intentional manipulation of the environment stops natural processes that would otherwise occur.

Lightning-ignited fires monitored or managed for resource benefit were previously identified as Prescribed Natural Fire (PNF) or Wildland Fire Use (WFU). Today, naturally-ignited fires are not given special designation, as firefighters often use multiple strategies on a single fire to reach fire management objectives.

Wildfires in Lassen Volcanic Wilderness 1984-2021

Year	Fire Name	Ignition Source	Acres	Wilderness Acres	High Severity	Moderate Severity	Low Severity	Unchanged	Dominant Management Action
1984	Badger PNF	Lightning	671	100%	2%	13%	49%	35%	Monitor
1984	Badger Wildfire	Lightning	453	7%	9%	30%	61%	0%	Suppression
1987	Snag Complex (Stacey, Puppy, Snag)	Lightning	720	100%	13%	24%	40%	23%	Monitor
1992	Butte II	Lightning	43	42%					Suppression
1996	Crater WFU	Lightning	154	100%	5%	22%	49%	23%	Monitor
1996	Crater Wildfire	Lightning	198	100%	11%	16%	28%	45%	Suppression
1997	Huffer WFU	Lightning	1,089	100%	43%	19%	28%	10%	Managed
1997	Huffer Wildfire	Lightning	1,203	100%	19%	16%	0%	64%	Suppression
1998	Fantastic Rx	Human	1,521	100%	3%	6%	22%	69%	Prescribed
1999	Flatiron Rx	Human	593	60%	7%	2%	3%	88%	Prescribed
2004	Bluff WFU	Lightning	3,414	100%	8%	18%	46%	28%	Managed
2004	Hidden WFU	Lightning	18	100%	0%	0%	50%	50%	Monitor
2005	Prospect Phase 1 Rx	Human	577	86%	2%	11%	18%	69%	Prescribed
2005	Horseshoe WFU	Lightning	1,528	100%	0%	2%	26%	72%	Managed
2005	Prospect Rx Escape	Human	97	5%	40%	20%	20%	20%	Suppression
2005	Prospect Phase 3 Rx	Human	2,937	92%	1%	4%	13%	82%	Prescribed
2006	GRII Rx	Human	1,292	50%	1%	1%	4%	94%	Prescribed
2007	Stonehenge Unit3 Rx	Human	75	100%					Prescribed
2009	Crescent A Rx	Human	547	76%	8%	24%	56%	12%	Prescribed
2009	Fairfield WFU	Lightning	1,720	100%	1%	11%	49%	38%	Managed
2009	Crescent B Rx	Human	1,186	100%	0%	2%	29%	69%	Prescribed
2010	Crescent C Rx	Human	181	92%	0%	0%	48%	52%	Prescribed
2011	Summit WFU	Lightning	14	64%	-	-	-	-	Monitor
2012	Reading	Lightning	16,098*	21%	41%	29%	19%	11%	Managed and Suppression
2019	Red Fire	Lightning
2021	Dixie Fire	Human (not Rx)	73,240*						Suppression

*Acreage within Lassen Volcanic; does not reflect acreage outside the park.

 

Significant Fires from Recent History

2021 Dixie Fire

The Dixie Fire reached 100% containment on October 26, 2021 with a total size of 963,309 acres including 73,240 acres within the park. The Dixie Fire is the largest fire in park history.

2012 Reading Fire

The Reading fire was caused by a lightning strike on July 23, 2012 after a storm passed through the area. The fire was fully contained on August 22, 2012. The fire size totaled 28,079 acres, of which 16,993 acres are on NPS lands, 11,071 acres on US Forest Service lands, and 75 acres on private lands. Not all of the vegetation in the fire area burned and some areas did not burn at all. The resulting pattern of green vegetation and burned vegetation is called a mosaic. No structures were lost, and one injury was reported. View photos from the Reading Fire on Flickr.