Biola, California
21 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1923 and the latest in 1982. It stands in the Kerman census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93606. The Survey maps it on the Biola quadrangle. 1,427 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 253 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1923 to 1982The same ground, surveyed 59 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Population over time
2 figuresBiola fell from 1,623 to 1,427 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 1,623 | |
| 2020 | 1,427 | -196 (-12%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 21 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1923 USGS Biola quadrangle1:31680
- 1946 USGS Biola quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1946 USGS Madera quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1947 USGS Biola quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1957 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1963 USGS Biola quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1965 USGS Santa Cruz quadrangle1:250000
- 1974 USGS Monterey quadrangle1:250000
- 1982 USGS Mendota quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
71 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 71 fires within 5 miles of Biola between 1992 and 2020, burning about 303 acres in total. None started naturally. 4 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 32 |
| Debris and open burning | 12 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 12 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 29 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | 1.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 24 September 1998 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 10 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | GONZALAZ |
| 21 September 2011 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | 145 2 |
| 21 September 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 10 acres | Fresno-Kings Unit | FKU#11788 |
| 2 September 2004 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | COLLEGE |
| 16 September 1992 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | SCHAFER |
| 9 August 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.5 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | MAZON |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Biola: 3 past producers, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Joaquin River | Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver | Unknown | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Portland Monolith Cement Co. | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
2 since 2000Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Biola in 2 storm reports between 2000 and 2021: 1 hail, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2021 | Flood | Biola | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the itnersection of N. Madera Ave. and W. Shaw Ave. |
| April 2000 | Hail | Biola | - | A spotter indicated a very short duration hail event with the hail conditions stated as mushy. The Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for both Madera and Fresno Counties as the cell straddled the county line. Confirmation could only be made on the Fresno County side. |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dickerson (historical) | 1.5 miles | 20 | |
| Raco | 2.0 miles | 20 | |
| Barstow | 2.6 miles | 20 | |
| Floyd | 4.8 miles | 19 | |
| Rugg (historical) | 4.9 miles | 15 | |
| Rolinda | 5.4 miles | 19 | |
| Herndon | 5.8 miles | 20 | |
| Kerman | 5.9 miles | 15 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Biola | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2912357 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1659697. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.











