Key takeaways
- Waterfall (2004): about 8,765 acres, Carson City west side.
- Davis (2024): about 5,824 acres, Washoe Valley and south Reno area.
- Tamarack (2021): about 67,054 mapped acres. Caldor (2021): about 221,784 mapped acres.
- After the Angora fire, TRPA reports that 75 percent of surviving homes in the burn area had some form of defensible space.
We state only what the mapped records show: name, year and size. We were not on these fires and tell no stories about them.
The four fires
| Fire | Year | Mapped acres |
|---|---|---|
| Waterfall | 2004 | 8,765 |
| Tamarack | 2021 | 67,054 |
| Caldor | 2021 | 221,784 |
| Davis | 2024 | 5,824 |
Acres are the GIS perimeter figure from the National Interagency Fire Center and may differ from final incident reports.
Why do embers matter as much as flames?
Wildfires throw embers ahead of the main fire, which is why University of Nevada, Reno Extension's Zone 0 is the first 5 feet: no woodpiles, combustible mulch, leaves or needles, and no junipers or sage against the wall. Clean gutters and the roof edge too.
Lesson 2: the fuel near the house is the part you control
You cannot change a forest that is miles away. You can change Zone 1 (5 to 30 feet) and Zone 2 (30 to 100 feet). TRPA reports that after the Angora fire at Lake Tahoe, 75 percent of surviving homes in the burn area had some form of defensible space. That is not a guarantee, but it points the same direction.
Lesson 3: large fires are regional, not personal
Carson City has 17 mapped fires of 300 acres or more since 1980 with a perimeter centroid within about 10 miles of the city point. That is a statement about the region over 46 years, not a prediction for your street. Our wildfire-risk guide has the USFS numbers by community.
Is fire season longer than summer?
The Living With Fire guide notes that plants are dormant in fall and winter, hold less moisture and can burn easily. Do pine-needle cleanup in the spring, and walk the property again before summer.
What this page does not say
We do not describe how these fires started, how they behaved, or what they destroyed, because the perimeter data does not tell us and we have not confirmed those details with a second source. If you want incident reports, the agencies that managed each fire publish them. What the mapped record does show is that big fires have been part of this region for decades, and that is enough reason to work the zones around your home.
Using the record
Look up the fires closest to your street on our data page, note the year and size, and use them as a reminder to schedule your spring cleanup. If you live near Washoe Valley or the Carson City foothills, ask your fire district what it recommends for your lot. If you live in Douglas County, the Tamarack and Caldor perimeters are nearby history for the Carson Valley and the Tahoe Basin.
What we can do
We do defensible space and fire mitigation, brush mowing, masticating, lot clearing and tree work, and a certified arborist assesses each job. Call 775.232.8243 for a free estimate.
Sources
- National Interagency Fire Center: Interagency Fire Perimeter History and WFIGS Interagency Fire Perimeters (data pulled October 1, 2026)
- University of Nevada, Reno Extension: Living With Fire (SP-23-07) (read October 17, 2026)
- Tahoe Regional Planning Agency: Trees and Defensible Space (read October 17, 2026)