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Preliminary Data Collected from the Camp Fire Reconnaissance
Published
Author(s)
Alexander Maranghides, William Mell, Steven Hawks, Mike Wilson, Will Brewer, Eric D. Link, Christopher U. Brown, Cartier P. Murrill, Erin Ashley
Abstract
The Camp Fire started in the vicinity of Pulga Rd and Camp Creek Road, in Butte County on November 8 at 6:29 am. The cause of ignition is under investigation. The incident was classified as a vegetation fire. The Unified Command Agencies responsible for the incident were CAL FIRE, Butte County Sheriff Department, Paradise Police Department, and the U.S. Forest Service. Total personnel involved in firefighting reached 5471 with 900 pieces of apparatus (620 engines, 101 fire crews, 102 dozers, and 77 water tenders). The Camp Fire consumed 153,336 acres and destroyed 13,696 single residences. The fire resulted in 86 civilian fatalities and three firefighter injuries. After the fire 3266 missing persons were located, while three remain missing. The Camp Fire Destroyed or damaged a total of 19558 structures, equivalent to three times the losses of the 2017 Tubbs Fire (5636 structures) or six times the losses of the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire (2900 structures). The report contains preliminary data collection by the NIST/USFS/FEMA Team
Maranghides, A.
, Mell, W.
, Hawks, S.
, Wilson, M.
, Brewer, W.
, Link, E.
, Brown, C.
, Murrill, C.
and Ashley, E.
(2020),
Preliminary Data Collected from the Camp Fire Reconnaissance, Technical Note (NIST TN), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.2128
(Accessed October 17, 2025)