As of : FEMA’s OpenFEMA data lists 300 Fire disaster declarations for California, from Dec 29, 1956 to Oct 16, 2026. The most recent is “NORTE FIRE”. That is 75.9% of all California declarations. 27 are major disaster declarations. 124 came in the last ten years.
This page is a historical count of federal declarations. It is not a warning or emergency guidance: for current local emergency information use your state or county emergency management office.
Last checked against the source: . This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s). Counts are made by this site from FEMA's published rows: each disaster number is counted once per state and incident type.
Extended data
Measure
Value
Declarations (distinct disaster numbers)
300
Major disaster declarations (DR)
27
Emergency declarations (EM)
9
Fire management declarations (FM)
264
Area designations (counties and other areas, all declarations)
484
Declarations with Individual Assistance
17
Declarations with Public Assistance
297
Declarations with Hazard Mitigation
114
Declarations in the last 10 years
124
First declaration in the data
Dec 29, 1956
Most recent declaration
Oct 16, 2026
Most recent declaration title
NORTE FIRE
Years from first to latest (inclusive)
71
Average declarations per year (calculated)
4.23
Share of all declarations in this state (calculated)
75.9%
All declarations in this state, every incident type in scope
395
Share of all declarations of this incident type nationwide (calculated)
16.8%
Rank among states and territories for this incident type
1
Rank among this state's incident types
1
Declarations by year (the 10 most recent years that had at least one)
Year declared
Declarations
2026
5
2025
6
2024
11
2022
5
2021
11
2020
21
2019
10
2018
17
2017
25
2016
13
How the figures are counted: a declaration is counted once per state and incident type by its FEMA disaster number, even when it designates many areas; shares and the yearly average are calculated by this site from those counts.
Worked example: California, Fire: 300 declarations over 71 years (1956–2026) = 4.23 per year on average.
Frequently asked questions
How many Fire disaster declarations has California had?
OpenFEMA lists 300 Fire declarations for California between Dec 29, 1956 and Oct 16, 2026: 27 major disaster (DR), 9 emergency (EM) and 264 fire management (FM) declarations.
When was the most recent Fire declaration in California?
The most recent in the data is “NORTE FIRE”, declared on Oct 16, 2026.
How does California compare with other states for Fire declarations?
California ranks 1st of 45 states and territories with at least one Fire declaration, and these declarations are 16.8% of all Fire declarations nationwide in this data.
What do DR, EM and FM mean in this data?
They are the declaration types in the OpenFEMA data: DR is a major disaster declaration, EM an emergency declaration and FM a fire management assistance declaration. One declaration can cover many areas, so area designations can exceed the number of declarations.
Is this page a warning or emergency guidance?
No. It is a historical count taken from FEMA's open data. For current emergency information use your state or county emergency management office.