Wildfire Land and Tree Damage Claims in California

What You May Claim When a Wildfire Burns Your Land

Three California statutes shape most of what a landowner's claim looks like.

The first decides whether anyone can be held responsible for your loss at all. Under Health and Safety Code § 13007, "Any person who personally or through another wilfully, negligently, or in violation of law, sets fire to, allows fire to be set to, or allows a fire kindled or attended by him to escape to, the property of another, whether privately or publicly owned, is liable to the owner of such property for any damages to the property caused by the fire." For an owner, this is the link between the fire, the person behind it and the damage on the ground.

The second applies to trees. Civil Code § 3346 sets the measure of damages, meaning the rule a court uses to calculate the amount awarded, "for wrongful injuries to timber, trees, or underwood upon the land of another, or removal thereof." The general measure is three times the sum that would compensate for the actual detriment. It becomes twice that sum where the trespass was casual or involuntary, or where the defendant had probable cause to believe the land was their own or their employer's. It is limited to the actual detriment where highway officers took the wood to repair a public highway or bridge. It is also limited to the actual detriment where a defendant relied on a faulty boundary survey made by a California-licensed land surveyor, if the defendant, their principal, their lessor or their immediate predecessor in title had the survey made.

The third is Code of Civil Procedure § 338, which sets three-year filing periods, including one for "an action for trespass upon or injury to real property."

Whether Civil Code § 3346 applies to a particular fire depends on the facts of that fire and how it reached the trees. For a landowner with burned trees, that question can change both the amount at stake and the time available to file. A claim built on these rules also has to show the basic pieces covered on our page about what a wildfire claim requires.

How Your Trees, Crops, Fences, and Outbuildings Are Treated

A single fire can touch several kinds of property on one parcel, and the law does not always treat them the same way.

Timber, trees and underwood are the category Civil Code § 3346 names. Where the statute applies, its multiplied measure of damages and its own filing period follow. Where it does not, damage to trees may still be part of a broader claim for injury to the land.

Other injury to the land itself, such as burned ground, damaged grading or destroyed landscaping, falls within Code of Civil Procedure § 338's three-year period for injury to real property. Real property means land and what is attached to it.

Crops are their own kind of loss for a farm or ranch owner. Health and Safety Code § 13007 speaks of "any damages to the property caused by the fire," and a lost harvest may be part of that. How a court classifies a particular crop loss, and which filing period governs it, depends on the facts.

Fences and outbuildings, such as barns, sheds, well houses and corrals, are structures on the land, and damage to them is usually discussed as injury to real property. Equipment, tools and stored goods are different. Section 338 separately lists "an action for taking, detaining, or injuring goods or chattels," the law's term for movable personal property.

If your property had trees, a fence line and a barn, you may be looking at losses in more than one category, each with its own proof, measure and possibly its own window. Sorting the losses by category early can help an owner see which records and which deadlines matter for each, and that sorting is part of what a conversation with an attorney can cover. A family home on the same land raises its own questions, covered on our page about wildfire home damage claims. Income from a farm or ranch operation is discussed with wildfire business loss claims.

When Someone Else's Fire Reaches Your Property: Who May Be Responsible

Health and Safety Code § 13007 reaches "any person" who, "personally or through another," set the fire, allowed a fire to be set, or allowed a fire they kindled or attended to escape onto another's property. The person must have acted wilfully, negligently or in violation of law. Liability runs "to the owner of such property for any damages to the property caused by the fire."

For a landowner, that means a claim turns on four answers: who set the fire or let it escape, how they acted, whose property it reached, and what damage it caused. A claim needs a party the facts connect to the fire. The words "personally or through another" matter, because the person whose conduct the statute reaches may act through someone working for them. Who that is in any given fire depends on what investigators and the evidence show about where the fire started and how. A burned property is not proof of anyone's fault by itself.

There is also a separate theory. Inverse condemnation is a constitutional doctrine under which a property owner may seek compensation when a government entity's project or a public utility's infrastructure damages private property. It is distinct from a negligence claim and asks different questions than section 13007 does, and its fit depends on who owned and operated what. So a fire traced to a neighbor's burn pile and a fire traced to utility equipment can lead an owner down different legal paths. A conversation with our attorney can help a landowner weigh which theory, if any, matches the facts of a particular fire. Our overview of how a California wildfire lawsuit works explains the broader framework.

Records That Show What Was Lost and Why They Matter to a Claim

A damages claim asks two questions: what was there before the fire, and what is left after it. The records that typically matter answer each question clearly.

If you own burned land, the records that usually carry weight include photographs and video taken before the fire. Old family photos, drone footage, listing photos and real estate images can show tree cover, fence lines and outbuildings as they stood. Photographs and video taken after the fire show the same views now.

Land surveys and boundary records show where the property lines run. That matters because Civil Code § 3346 speaks to trees "upon the land of another," and because it treats reliance on a faulty survey differently. Property appraisals from before and after the fire help show a change in value.

For working land, owners often gather crop records, including planting and harvest logs, yield histories, sales records and contracts with buyers. Timber owners may keep timber inventories or cruise reports. Ranchers often keep grazing and livestock records.

For fences, outbuildings and other improvements, receipts, invoices, building permits and contractor estimates help show what was built and what it cost. Repair estimates prepared after the fire help show the work needed now.

Official agency records, such as a CAL FIRE incident report or another agency's investigation materials, may describe when and where a fire started. These are sources of documentation, not findings of fault, and what any report states depends on that report.

Filing Deadlines That Apply to Wildfire Land Damage Claims

A limitations period is the window the law allows for filing a lawsuit. A claim filed after its period has run is generally barred, however strong it otherwise might be.

For wrongful injury to timber, trees or underwood, Civil Code § 3346 states that any action for its damages "must be commenced within five years from the date of the trespass." The clock in that section is tied to the date of the trespass, the wrongful act on the land.

For burned ground, fences and outbuildings, the window is shorter. Code of Civil Procedure § 338 provides that an action "for trespass upon or injury to real property" must be brought "within three years." The same three years apply to "an action upon a liability created by statute, other than a penalty or forfeiture," and to an action for "injuring goods or chattels." Because a claim under Health and Safety Code § 13007 is built on a statute, section 338 comes up often in fire cases.

Which period applies depends on the category of loss and the facts. The same fire can produce a tree loss, a fence loss and an equipment loss, and each may be measured against a different window. Claims against a public entity can carry their own claim-presentation rules, described on our page about wildfire claim deadlines.

If you are trying to work out which period covers which part of your loss, you may want to consider discussing the timeline with our attorney. That conversation can cover when the fire reached the property and what was damaged in each category.

The Disaster-Loss Tax Election and What It Does Not Decide

Federal tax law has its own rule for disaster losses, separate from any claim against the party behind a fire. Under 26 U.S.C. § 165(i)(1), "any loss occurring in a disaster area and attributable to a federally declared disaster may, at the election of the taxpayer, be taken into account for the taxable year immediately preceding the taxable year in which the disaster occurred." Put simply, when the President has declared the disaster, a taxpayer may choose to claim the loss on the prior year's return. The statute defines a "federally declared disaster" as one the President determines warrants federal assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, and the "disaster area" as the area so determined. The amount claimed this way "shall not exceed the uncompensated amount determined on the basis of the facts existing at the date the taxpayer claims the loss."

The IRS describes a casualty loss as damage from "any sudden, unexpected, or unusual event such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire, earthquake, or volcanic eruption." It also says the loss is reduced "by any insurance or other reimbursement you receive or expect to receive," according to its Topic no. 515, Casualty, disaster, and theft losses. That page also states that a taxpayer has not sustained a loss while there is "a reasonable prospect of recovery through a claim for reimbursement."

For a landowner, this is where a pending damages claim and a tax position can meet: what you expect to recover from the party behind the fire may affect what counts as an uncompensated loss. This is a tax provision, not a damages remedy, and it does not decide who is responsible for a fire or what a landowner may recover in court. This section is general information and does not constitute tax advice. Tax questions turn on facts this page does not cover.