Wildfire risk in Calaveras County: where it is highest, and why
Wildfire risk in Calaveras County spans a wide range across the places we scored. The lowest score was 37.3 near San Andreas, the highest was 81.1 in Mokelumne Hill, and the middle score was 66.8.
Calaveras County — the largest fires on record, at their perimeter centres, with the county’s main communities. Select a marker for its detail.
At a glance
Half of Calaveras County scores High or worse
We scored 158 points across Calaveras County on the same 0–100 scale a Satelife address report uses, and they do not land in one place. 17% of them come out Very High, while 3% are Moderate. Which end your own parcel sits at is not something a county map can tell you.
17%
80%
Very High17% · 27 of 158 pointsHigh80% · 127 of 158 pointsModerate3% · 4 of 158 points
Safest end we measured37.3near San Andreas · Moderate
Middle of the county66.8High — half of Calaveras County is above this
Most exposed end we measured81.1near Mokelumne Hill · Very High
And the federal models agree it is a fire county
Relatively HighFEMA National Risk Index — wildfire risk rating · index score 99.5 / 100
$30.1M / yrFEMA NRI — expected annual loss from wildfire · rated Relatively High
1.39%USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities — mean annual burn probability · 90th-percentile cell 3.10%
7.41 ftUSFS WRC — mean conditional flame length · 97% of the county carries burnable fuel
FEMA NRI also rates Calaveras County: all-hazards risk Relatively Moderate · social vulnerability Relatively Moderate · community resilience Relatively Low · annualised wildfire frequency 0.0119.
Sources: FEMA National Risk Index 1.20.0 (Dec 2025), county record · USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0, mean of the grid cells inside the county. Both describe the county as a whole, never an address in it.
What does your Calaveras County address score?
A county range shows the spread. Your parcel sits somewhere inside it — the report says where, and what to do about it.
Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan
Local context
What the data says about Calaveras County
Most scored locations fall in the High tier. There were 127 High locations and 27 Very High locations.
Only a small number of scored locations were below High: 4 were Moderate, and 0 were Low.
FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Calaveras County’s wildfire risk as Relatively High, and its wildfire expected annual loss as Relatively High.
Fire record
Where the fires actually were
The largest fire listed for the county is the Butte fire in 2015, at 70,847 acres. It also destroyed 921 structures.
The most recent large fire is the Gann fire in 2026, at 10,339 acres.
Since 1984, fires have burned 213,626 acres in the county. That equals 32.4% of the county, and 181 fire perimeters are listed over that period.
Butte Fire, 2015 — Calaveras County.
Photo: Department of Homeland Security. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Public Affairs Division. 3/1/2003 · Public domain
181mapped fire perimeters centred in the county since 1984
213,626acres inside those perimeters since 1984
32.4%of the county's area, as a share of 2,668.3 km²
Gann 2026most recent large fire on record
Before 20002000s2010s2020s
Fire perimeters coloured by decade. Select a perimeter for its name, year and size.
Waverly Fire201811,760 acres in totalcrossed into the county
Winton Broadcast Burn Fire20196,312 acres
2018 - Broadcast Burning Fire20186,312 acres
Darby Fire200114,280 acres in totalcrossed into the county
Leonard Fire20015,188 acres
Perimeter sources: NIFC Interagency Fire Perimeter History · WFIGS Interagency Perimeters · largest on record: Butte 2015.
Perimeters are simplified for display; acreage is the figure the source records.
Communities
Where in the county you are matters most
Among named communities, San Andreas has one of the higher scores at 73.1. West Point is also high at 71.4, and Mokelumne Hill is 70.6.
Murphys (69.7) and Calaveritas (69.0) are close behind, while Angels Camp is lower at 65.1.
Arnold is 64.4 and Avery is 65.0. Arnold is the one community here with a listed population, at 3,843.
San Andreastown
73.1 High
West Pointvillage
71.4 High
Mokelumne Hillvillage
70.6 High
Murphysvillage
69.7 High
Calaveritasvillage
69 High
Angels Camptown
65.1 High
Averyvillage
65 High
Arnoldvillage · 3,843 people
64.4 High
The score is the median of the sampled points nearest that community — a community-scale
indicator, not a score for any individual property in it. Population comes from the
community's own record where the source carries one.
Terrain & fuels
Terrain, vegetation and fuels
Terrain scores vary from 20.0 near San Andreas to 65.0 at Angels Camp, with a county middle value of 55.0.
Vegetation and fuels scores run from 31.0 at Angels Camp to 80.0 at Calaveritas, with a middle value of 70.0.
Past fire activity is also a strong part of the county pattern: the fire-history score ranges from 5.0 at Angels Camp to 95.0 near Angels Camp, with a middle value of 80.0.
55median terrain score (max 65 near Angels Camp)
70median vegetation & fuels score (max 80 near Calaveritas)
LANDFIRE existing vegetation type across Calaveras County — the same fuel data that feeds the
vegetation layer of a Satelife property report.
Fire weather
Fire weather across Calaveras County
Fire-weather scores were measured across the county and are relatively tight compared with other factors. They range from 53.5 near Mokelumne Hill to 62.5 near Arnold, with a middle value of 54.4.
A separate USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities product reports a mean annual burn probability of 1.39% and a 90th-percentile cell burn probability of 3.10%.
That same USFS product indicates 97.2% of the county can burn and reports a mean conditional flame length of 7.41 feet.
53.5lowest fire-weather score — near Mokelumne Hill
62.5highest fire-weather score — near Arnold
What drives it
Which part of the risk moves, and which doesn't
Risk is not uniform from one part of the county to another. The highest scored location is Mokelumne Hill at 81.1, while the lowest is near San Andreas at 37.3.
Community-level scores also vary. San Andreas is at 73.1, while Arnold is at 64.4.
West Point (71.4) and Mokelumne Hill (70.6) sit toward the higher end of community scores, while Angels Camp is lower at 65.1.
Each bar is what one part of the score covers across Calaveras County, on the same 0–100 scale.
A long bar is a part of the risk that depends on where you are; a short one is the same
almost everywhere.
Terrain
20–65highest near Angels Camp
Vegetation & fuels
31–80highest near Calaveritas
Hazard zone
10–92.8highest near Arnold
Fire history
5–95highest near Angels Camp
Fire weather
53.5–62.5highest near Arnold
Overall score
37.3–81.1highest near Mokelumne Hill
The tick on each bar is the middle value. Tier boundaries — Moderate at 25, High at 50,
Very High at 75 — are the faint lines behind them.
Show every number behind these bars
Layer
Min
Median
Max
Lowest place
Highest place
Points
Terrain
20
55
65
near San Andreas
Angels Camp
158
Vegetation & fuels
31
70
80
Angels Camp
Calaveritas
158
Hazard zone
10
90
92.8
San Andreas
Arnold
158
Fire history
5
80
95
Angels Camp
near Angels Camp
158
Fire weather
53.5
54.4
62.5
near Mokelumne Hill
near Arnold
158
Composite
37.3
66.8
81.1
near San Andreas
Mokelumne Hill
158
Independently of Satelife's layers, the USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities grid puts the county's mean annual burn probability at 1.39% (90th percentile cell: 3.10%), with a mean conditional flame length of 7.41 ft. 97% of the 16,678 grid cells inside the county carry burnable fuel at all.
Source: USFS Wildfire Risk to Communities v2.0 (ImageServer, county extent).
CAL FIRE has no mapped Fire Hazard Severity Zone at 34 of the 158 sampled points — the zones cover Local Responsibility Areas. At 34 of them the USFS grid above supplied the hazard reading instead.
158 sample points on a ~2.3 km grid, plus one at the centre of each community, weighted with the Satelife county profile v1 · median layer coverage 100%. Scores are 0–100 and comparable within the county, not across states.
For a property
What a county range means for one address
Property-specific details, such as a home’s roof type or defensible-space condition, were not measured at all in these county scores.
What is measured does include mapped wildfire hazard-zone conditions. In that layer, scored locations run from 10.0 in San Andreas to 92.8 in Arnold, with a middle value of 90.0.
For county-wide context, FEMA’s National Risk Index rates Calaveras County’s wildfire risk as Relatively High, while its all-hazards risk rating is Relatively Moderate and its community resilience rating is Relatively Low.
Across 158 sampled points in Calaveras County, the score runs from
37.3 to 81.1 — two neighbouring parcels can sit in different tiers.
A county number is the middle of that spread; it says nothing about which end yours is at.
Find out where your Calaveras County parcel sits
Slope, the fuel touching the structure, the road out, the fire history within a mile — measured at your address, not averaged across the county.
Free to request · PDF report with a 0–100 score, the drivers behind it, and a mitigation plan
Coverage
ZIP codes we cover in Calaveras County
Every one of the 29 ZIP areas that touch Calaveras County — we run address-level
reports in all of them. They are grouped by the median score of the points we sampled inside
each, which is a neighbourhood-scale indicator and not a score for any
property: two homes in the same ZIP routinely land in different tiers.
Frequently asked questions about Calaveras County wildfire risk
What does a High score mean for Calaveras County?
It means many scored locations in the county have elevated wildfire risk. In Calaveras County, High is the most common tier, with 127 scored locations in High and 27 in Very High.
Which fire was the largest, and which one is the most recent large fire?
The largest listed fire is Butte (2015) at 70,847 acres, with 921 structures destroyed. The most recent large fire is Gann (2026) at 10,339 acres.
How much of Calaveras County has burned since 1984?
32.4% of the county has burned since 1984, totaling 213,626 acres.
Was fire weather measured across the county?
Yes. Fire weather was measured across the county, with scores from 53.5 near Mokelumne Hill to 62.5 near Arnold.
Are FEMA ratings the same thing as local place scores?
No. FEMA’s National Risk Index ratings apply to the whole county. The place scores compare wildfire risk among locations inside the county.
This page is generated from a Calaveras County data pack assembled on 2026-08-18 (pack v1.0). Scores are sampled across the
county, not measured at any individual address, and are informational decision support — not a
substitute for official evacuation orders, a fire-agency hazard determination, or an insurer's
underwriting judgement.
Data versions: fema_nri 1.20.0 (Dec 2025) · landfire per adapter · nifc_history All Years View · wfigs current · wrc v2.0 (2024) · zcta Census 2020.
What does your parcel look like, layer by layer?
A county range shows the spread. An address-level Satelife report shows where in that spread your property actually sits — PDF, per-layer score, and a prioritized mitigation plan.
