California Air Resources Board

This webpage contains key graphs associated with California’s Wildfire Emission Inventory. For additional information about the methodology and data sources, or to download data or explore the data in an interactive map, see the main California Wildfire Emission Estimates webpage for more information.

Notes:

• These graphs represent vegetations burned in wildfires. CARB staff is currently developing a new emission inventory pipeline for estimating emissions of structures and automobiles burned in wildfire. The new data are expected to be available in late 2026.
• The numbers in these graphs include all fire events in the CAL FIRE Fire History Geo-database. They include "Wildland Fire Use (WFU)," which refers to fires that are managed to accomplish specific pre-stated resource management objectives in predefined geographic areas outlined in fire management plan.
• There are slight differences in scope of coverage in the time series. CARB revamped the methodology in the 2025-2026 inventory cycle and reanalyzed 2015-2023 using new methodology but could not reanalyze 2000-2014 due to limitations in input data from non-CARB sources. As a result, 2000-2014 include only natural land types (e.g., forest, shrubland, grassland), while 2015-2024 include all land types (adding agricultural and developed lands).

Wildfire is a major source of particulate matter emissions, which have been associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits, acute and chronic bronchitis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory symptoms, premature death in people with chronic heart or lung diseases and reduce lung function growth in children. Wildfire also releases biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that contribute to climate change. However, it is challenging to determine how much wildfire emissions contribute to anthropogenic climate change because wildfire emissions are part of the terrestrial carbon cycle, and when they occur in a healthy way, can bolster carbon sequestration rates and help preserve carbon stocks by the ecosystem services that they provide. (For more contextual information about wildfire GHG and climate change, see the FAQ.)

This webpage provides estimates of air pollutant emissions generated by the vegetations (e.g. trees, shrubs, grasses) and other burnable materials (e.g. structures, automobiles, etc.) consumed by wildfires. Due to the episodic nature of wildfire, the emission inventory is developed to be day- and location-specific to facilitate additional analyses on wildfire’s impact on air quality and human health. These inventory data represent the amount of air pollutant generated at the point of release (i.e., on the day and at the location where the flame burned). Where these pollutants eventually end up in the environment is highly dependent on the specific terrain and the atmospheric dispersion conditions at the time of fire (e.g., wind direction, heat convection, etc.). The fate of pollutants can vary significantly from day to day and between different fires with similar characteristics. The emissions data presented here do not address the dispersion and fate of the pollutants. Therefore, these data do not represent the amount of air pollution experienced by people in the path of wildfire smoke. For more information about wildfire smoke reaching communities and how you can protect your health from smoke exposure, please see the additional links at the bottom of this webpage.

Emissions of Vegetation Burned in Wildfire

The figure below shows the emissions of particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) from vegetation burned in wildfires since 2000. The table provides summary statistics of vegetation wildfire emissions and fuels. Additional graphs are available in the Summary Graphics webpage. Emissions data for additional pollutants and by individual wildfires can be found under the Wildfire Emissions Data sub-heading.

Wildfire Emissions Data

• Summary table showing the total emissions of each wildfire between 2015 and 2024

• Detailed table of daily emissions of each wildfire between 2015 and 2024, broken out by flaming and smoldering emissions

• A geospatial data visualization tool for seeing wildfire emissions generation data on an interactive map

• Data dictionary

• Technical documentation of inventory methodology

  • Technical supplement: assessment of method performance (assessment conducted in 2025)

• Geo-database available upon request

For a summary of the inventory methodology, see the Oct 16, 2025, public webinar presentation in the Webinar Presentation, Report, and FAQ section below.

Archive of Reports from Previous Years

This webpage was redesigned in 2026 to provide more detailed data about wildfire emission estimation based on the new inventory methodology implemented in 2025-2026. The webpage contents have replaced the previous report format. Previous reports are provided below for archival purposes only.

Wildfire Emissions & Burned Area Estimates 2000–2023 (published in 2024)

Wildfire Emissions & Burned Area Estimates 2000–2022 (published in 2023, updated with errata in 2024)

Wildfire Emissions & Burned Area Estimates 2000–2021 (published in 2022)

Wildfire Emissions & Burned Area Estimates 2000–2020 (published in 2021)

Technical documentation of inventory methodology, 2023 edition. CARB revamped the methodology in the 2025-2026 inventory cycle and reanalyzed the 2015-2023 inventory using the new methodology. 2000-2014 inventory could not be reanalyzed due to limitations in input data from non-CARB sources. Therefore, the 2023 edition of the technical documentation is still applicable for 2000-2014 estimates in the latest inventory release.

Emissions of Human-Made Materials Burned in Wildfire

A more systematic inventory of homes and other structures burned in wildfire has become available in more recent years, along with more up to date emission factors and fuel loading assumptions in scientific publication. These enable CARB to expand wildfire emission estimation to include human-made materials. CARB staff is currently developing a new emission inventory pipeline for estimating emissions of structures and automobiles burned in wildfire. The new data are expected to be available in late 2026.

Webinar Presentation, Report, & FAQ

Additional Information & Resources

Protect Your Health During Wildfire Smoke Events

Smoke Ready California

Smoke & Current Wildfires

California Smoke Spotter App

FAQ About Wildfire Smoke, Ash & Air Quality

Indoor Air Cleaners and Wildfire Smoke FAQ

Emission Inventory and Air Quality Analysis

Criteria Pollutant Emission Inventory (all emission source categories)

Exceptional Event Demonstrations

Air Quality and Meteorological Information System

Camp Fire Air Quality Data Analysis

Other Related Programs

CARB Wildfires General Landing Page

Wildfire and Climate Change

Natural & Working Lands Inventory

SB 901 Report

CARB is conducting the 2025 Personal Fragrance Products Technical Assessment to evaluate the continued feasibility of meeting the 50% VOC standard using existing or new technologies.

All reporting for the 2025 Personal Fragrance Products Technical Assessment (2025 PFP Tech Assessment) must be submitted to CARB by March 31, 2026. For ease of reporting, an interactive Personal Fragrance Products Reporting Tool (PFP-RT) for Responsible Parties is available to view and download at the links below. CARB staff will send out the Personal Fragrance Products Reporting Tool for Formulators (PFP- RTF) to product Formulators listed in the submitted PFP-RTs. 

When reporting fragrance ingredients, please keep in mind the definition for “Fragrance” as defined in sections 94501(f) and 94508(a)(55) of the Consumer Products Regulation: “Fragrance” means a substance or complex mixture of aroma chemicals, natural essential oils, and other functional components with a combined vapor pressure not in excess of 2 mm of Hg at 20 degree C, the sole purpose of which is to impart an odor or scent, or to counteract a malodor. 

All reported data will be treated as confidential. The 2025 PFP Tech Assessment reporting tools, instructions, and a sample Table of Contents for the written report are available to view and download at the links below.

PFP Special Reporting Notification Letter

• PFP Special Reporting Notification Letter

Personal Fragrance Products Reporting Tool (PFP-RT) 

• PFP-RT – Windows – Excel macro-enabled workbook v1.02

  • For use with Windows Computers 

• PFP-RT - Mac - Excel macro-enabled workbook v1.02 

  • For use with Mac Computers 

• PFP-RT CSV Headers

  • Responsible Party 

  • Product List  

  • Product Ingredients

  • Product Formulator

  • Fragrance Formulator  

  • Certification

Instructions and Appendices 

• Survey Instructions

• Appendices 

  • Appendix A: List of Survey Categories

  • Appendix B: List of NAICS Codes

  • Appendix C: U.S. Resident Population (Updated January 2026)

Written Report 

As part of the Requirements outlined in Section 94513(i), Responsible Parties must submit a written update on research and development efforts to meet the 50 percent by weight VOC standard. To give clearer guidance and what sort of information should be included in this report, a sample Table of Contents is available to view: 

• Sample Table of Contents

Formulator Resources 

To expedite the reporting process, CARB will not require Responsible Parties to contact Formulators. Instead, CARB staff will contact Formulators on behalf of the Responsible Parties to obtain any necessary formulation data via a customized version of the reporting tool called the Personal Fragrance Products Reporting Tool for Formulators (PFP-RTF). The PFP-RTF is not available for download but will be sent to Formulators as needed. 

• Formulator Instructions - Coming Soon

Background  

In 2021, CARB amended the Consumer Products Regulation to lower the volatile organic compound (VOC) standard for non-aerosol PFPs that contain 7% or less fragrance, with an initial VOC standard of 70% instead of the previous 75%. By January 1, 2031, non-aerosol PFPs that contain 10% or less fragrance must meet a 50% VOC standard. CARB will also require aerosol PFPs made on or after January 1, 2031, to meet the 50% VOC standard. 

For more information, on the 2021 Consumer Products Amendments, please visit the Formal Rulemaking Documents page. 

The Consumer Products Regulation is available to read online. 

Pursuant to the requirements of Assembly Bill (AB) 2289, California’s Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), in cooperation with California Air Resources Board (CARB), performs certain analyses of Smog Check or Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) related data and periodically reports the results of these analyses to the public. Specific requirements of the bill include estimation of excess emissions associated with vehicles initially passing a Smog Check that subsequently fails a Random Roadside (RR) Inspection and reasons for the failures.

EMFAC characterizes the emissions from the California fleet, which includes vehicles that both pass and fail Smog Check. Although some vehicles that are high-emitting and fail Smog Check are included in EMFAC, it cannot explicitly model the emissions from vehicles failing Smog Check or calculate the emissions benefits of the Smog Check Program. This test program, in collaboration with BAR, will procure failing vehicles from BAR’s RR inspection program and facilitate deriving explicit emission rates for vehicles in the higher emission regimes (typically I/M failures) to update EMFAC. Data collected from this test plan will enable calculation of the emission rates based on passing and failing emissions in place of the current methodology that determines the emission rates based on low, medium and high emission regimes.

In addition, the test program will also provide BAR the emission rates of test vehicles that fail SMOG check for the purpose of determining the effectiveness of the Smog Check Program.

If you have questions, please contact the Project Engineer, Sanika Nishandar (sanika.nishandar@arb.ca.gov) at (951) 717-6000 or Section Manager, Satya Sardar (satya.sardar@arb.ca.gov) at (951) 542-3376.