12 BIGGEST Fires

From the deadliest fires started by an accident to the biggest and most destructive wildfires that spread through forests and the land.\r
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# 8 Taylor Complex Fire\r
The Taylor Complex Fire was the biggest wildfire in an already enormous and record-breaking Alaska Fire Season in 2004. It was the largest wildfire in the United States from 1997-2007, consuming an estimated 1,305,000 acres of land, contributing a significant amount of the more than 6,600,000 acres that were burned during the 2004 Alaskan Fire season. \r
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# 7 Oakland Firestorm \r
In 1991 a large fire that was triggered in a Suburban hillside of Northern Oakland. Many people refer to this disaster as the Oakland Firestorm of 1991, but it is officially called the Tunnel Fire. The blaze ultimately claimed the lives of 25 people and injured 150 others. Over 1,500 acres of property were destroyed which included nearly 3,000 single-family households and more than 400 apartment and condo units. The economic cost of the Firestorm is estimated at about $1.5 billion. \r
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# 6 Yellowstone Summer of Fire\r
Fires can ually be ecologically beneficial for forests, so Park managements will let small fires burn in controlled areas to prevent larger fires from occurring. In 1988, Yellowstone was overdue for a fire, and the small fires burning through the forest quickly formed into the biggest wildfire in the recorded history of Yellowstone Park. This is how the 1988 Summer of Fire began: as a few small fires spotted through the forest, but high winds quickly bred them into the massive forest fire that consumed a total of 793, 000 acres. Roughly 36 percent of the park would ultimately be affected by the Summer of Fire. At its peak, over 9,000 firefighters assisted by several firefighting air crafts to keep the destruction at bay. \r
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# 5 Cedar Fire\r
In 2003, Southern California suffered from 15 wildfires that would be known as the Fire Siege of 2003. The Cedar Fire is just one of these, but it was also one of the largest recorded wildfires in California History. The fire started when a hunter in the Cleveland National Forest started a fire to signal for help. His fire quickly lost control, and consumed residences near the mountain and 39 homes on the Barona Indian Reservation. Estimates say the Cedar Fire burned a total of 800,000 acres over the course of 2 months from October 23 to December 5th. In this image you can see the fire creeping onto the I-15 freeway, forcing drivers to scramble for escape. \r
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# 4 Black Saturday Bushfires\r
The Black Saturday bushfires refer to a devastatingof bushfires that burned across Victoria, Australia, beginning on Saturday, February 7, new, and the aftermath of those fires. At least 400 individual fires were recorded on just that Saturday. 173 deaths as a result of the bushfire, as well as 414 injuries and more than 1 million acres of land, were burnt down. Some estimate that the damage was equivalent to the energy that would be released from 1,500 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. \r
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# 3 2007 California Wildfires\r
The 2007 California Wildfire season saw over 9,000 separate wildfires that burned its way through over 1 million acres of land. It left 14 people dead and 160 injured. It was legally declared a state of emergency by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as seven California counties were on fire. The fires had several causes, but they were all exasperated by the extreme drought and high winds. It seems like every wildfire season in California is worse than the last, but the damage done in 2007 was easily one of the worst. \r
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# 2 Black Dragon Fire\r
The Black Dragon Fire was ignited in 1987, made worse by a drought and high winds. It completely devoured land as it blazed along the Chinese and Russian border. More than 60,000 Chinese firefighters were mobilized to suppress the fire. By the end of the Black Dragons siege, more than 250 people were injured, and 200 were dead. 3 million acres of forest land were burned, equalling to one-third of a Chinese Forest Reserve. On the Russian side, the fire burned freely without anyone attempting to suppress it - resulting in 15 million acres of land to burn on their side of the border. \r
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# 1 Sandfire\r
The most recent fire on this list is the Sand Fire that is blazing in Santa Clarita Valley in Southern California. It has scorched more than 37,000 acres of land so far and at the moment, still in the process of being suppressed. The destruction and reduction of air quality in the area has prompted Los Angeles County to go into a state of emergency. The fire seems to be far from contained, and we can only guess how much damage will be done by the blaze.