In the aftermath of the 1988 fire, stricter guidelines under which naturally occurring fires may be allowed to burn were enacted. So it could be that the worst wildfires in U.S. history are the ones that have yet to happen. The fire began after sparks from local railroad tracks ignited dry brush. 10 of the Worst Wildfires in U.S. History. Drivers scramble up the embankment to escape as the Cedar Fire crosses the freeway. Shocking footage of the fires was recorded by media outlets and individual citizens. Bryan Nelson is a science writer and award-winning documentary filmmaker with over a decade of experience covering technology, astronomy, medicine, and more. 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By the time the fire subsided, more than 2 million acres had been scorched — roughly a third of the entire park. The U.S. … One of the more harrowing survival stories to come out of this event involves the residents along the Miramichi River who waded for hours in its waters while the fire passed. There were 87 fatalities from the fire and 78 of those were firefighters. These two fires tie for being the largest wildland fires in U.S. history. By September 20, after rain and snow had significantly slowed most fire growth, the overall burned acreage in Montana was estimated at 1,295,959 acres (524,456 ha). Throughout most of the century, the service had issued aggressive measures against all wildfires, vowing to dispense of them quickly. The Great Chicago Fire, which destroyed about a third of the city's valuation at the time and left more than 100,000 residents homeless, stole the headlines. The Great Fire of 1910 included 78 wildfires that burned 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana, and Washington, killing 86 people. The handling of the blaze went on to shape the future of the U.S. Forest Service. When the flamed abated, as many as 38 communities had been razed to the ground, 250,000 acres had been scorched, 52,000 persons had been injured or displaced and the costs mounted to nearly $75 million. People and ruins after the Cloquet fire, 1918. Miraculously, no lives were lost as a direct result of the flames, even though as many as 25,000 firefighters had been dispatched to battle the conflagration. The second worst fire in Minnesota history (behind the Cloquet Fire of 1918), the Great Hinckley Fire of 1894 was a devastating blaze that ravaged more than 200,000 acres and claimed at least 418 lives — one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history. In fact, some have even suggested that the fires were caused by a shower of meteorites, fragments from the impact of Comet Biela. The blaze eventually came to consume more than 280,000 acres — almost 30,000 of which were within the city limits of San Diego — and became the largest single fire in California's recorded history. Ground fires at Grant Village during the 1988 Yellowstone Park fire. Wildfire season is upon us, and this year is shaping up to be another inferno, especially out West. The area covered by the various blazes was massive: more than 500,000 acres stretching from Santa Barbara County all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border. The firestorm moved with remarkable ferocity despite lasting only about four hours. The merits of this policy are still debated today, especially by ecologists who insist that some wildfires are necessary for ecosystem health. April 2000, Gangwon-do Gangneung wildfire March 2013, Gyeongsangbukdo Pohang wildfire. The Miramichi Fire was one of the worst forest fires in North American history. Unfortunately, rampant blazes are increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception this time of year. By the time the blaze was dispelled, more than 3 million acres had burned and at least 160 people had been killed. It is said that they shared the water with livestock and even wild animals, including raccoons, deer, bears and large moose, all trying to escape the flames. The fire was heavily covered by the media, in part because of the size of the blaze, but also due to Yellowstone's prestige as one of the most famous national parks in the world. Blazes leveled the Michigan cities of Holland and Manistee in what has been referred to as the Great Michigan Fire, while across the state another fire destroyed the city of Port Huron. The fire is also famous for having killed Thomas P. "Boston" Corbett, the Union soldier who killed John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln's assassin. It burned more than 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Washington — in all, a total area roughly the size of Connecticut. Though most of its damage was done in New Brunswick (around the Canadian city of Miramichi), the firestorm also reached well into the U.S. state of Maine. Wallace, Idaho was destroyed by the 1910 forest fires. Others believe that high winds moving through the region offer a more sensible explanation for the unusual confluence of events. Though the park has since enjoyed a robust recovery, the coverage sparked fierce debate about the U.S. Forest Service's evolving policies concerning wildfire management at the time. That all of these devastating fires happened at the same time, over such wide distances, has persuaded many researchers that it was no coincidence. You can watch dramatic footage from the fire in the video below: Fueled by dry summers and whipping seasonal gusts known as the Santa Ana winds and the Diablo winds, large wildfires have become an almost annual occurrence throughout California. Here are the 10 worst wildfires in American history: In 1871, during the week of Oct. 8-14, it must have seemed like the whole world was ablaze for residents of the Upper Midwest. Immediately after the 1910 fire, the service vowed to fight all wildfires, even ones that are naturally occurring and of no threat to human life or property. A rendering of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The Miramichi Fire burned 3 million acres in Maine and New Brunswick, killing 160 people. Wild fires can travel fast and burn a football field per second. The 2017 fire season in Montana was exacerbated by drought conditions and as of September 7, 2017 , there were 21 large, active fires that had consumed over 438,000 acres (177,000 ha). In total, the fires displaced nearly 1 million people and razed at least 1,500 homes in the San Diego area alone. But 2003 might have been the worst year on record for the Golden State. We can only hope this look back is not a sign of things to come. Here's an example below: The worst natural disaster in Minnesota history, the Cloquet Fire of 1918, claimed nearly 500 lives in a single day. The largest wildfire on record in the U.S. since 1997, Alaska's Taylor Complex Fire of 2004 burned more than 1,300,000 acres. Four of the worst fires in U.S. history all broke out in the same week across the region. The Great Fire of 1910 and the Miramichi Fire of 1825. U.S. Marine Corps/Sgt Giles M. Isham/Wikimedia Commons. This mega-fire burned through 3 million acres of land and killed 87 people, most of whom were firefighters. The Great Fire of 1910, also occasionally referred to as the "Big Burn," is believed … One of the worst urban blazes in modern history, the Oakland Firestorm of 1991 began as a relatively small grass fire in the Berkeley Hills. Each wildfire season in California seems to top the last, but the 2007 wildfires are especially notable for leading to the largest evacuation in California history. It's a scary thought, especially considering the damage that wildfires have done in this country. The worst fire of them all, however, might have been the Great Peshtigo Fire, a firestorm that ravaged the Wisconsin countryside, leaving more than 1,500 dead — the most fatalities by fire in U.S. history.