BlockBefore

Chaffee, California

28 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1915 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the East Kern census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93501. The Survey maps it on the Mojave quadrangle. It stands 2,851 feet above sea level.

Chaffee within Kern County

Then and now

1915 to 1992

The same ground, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Chaffee, surveyed 1992
Topographic sheet of Chaffee, surveyed 1915

Compare 1915 against another survey:

Topographic sheets covering this place

13 surveys from 28 printed sheets

Matched 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.

Fires near this place

81 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Chaffee between 1996 and 2020, burning about 26,792 acres in total. 4 started naturally. 9 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/undetermined41
Arson/incendiarism9
Equipment and vehicle use8
Debris and open burning6
Smoking5
Natural4
Misuse of fire by a minor4
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Recreation and ceremony1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
30 September 1999Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0951
2 September 1998Naturalunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0910
18 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreKern County Fire Departmentnot named
10 September 2011Natural25,577 acresCentral California DistrictCOMMANCHE
10 September 2008Debris and open burningunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
10 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0194
9 August 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Desert DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 0177

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Kern County

Mines and quarries near this place

10 of 39 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 39 workings within 5 miles of Chaffee: 23 past producers, 6 producers, 4 occurrences, 2 plants. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Silver, Gold, 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Exposed Treasure MineGold, Silver, ManganesePast Producer
Four StarGold, Silver, Lead, CopperPast Producer
Pride of Mojave MineGold, Copper, Lead, Manganese, SilverPast Producer
Unnamed Clay DepositBentonite, Gypsum-AnhydriteProspect
Unnamed Feldspar OccurrenceFeldsparOccurrence
Emerald Queen ProspectUraniumOccurrence
Tehachapi ClayBentonitePast Producer
Unnamed Uranium OccurrenceUraniumOccurrence
Broken Stone #4Stone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Unnamed PitStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Kern County

Storms near this place

1 since 2011

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Chaffee in 1 storm report in 2011: 1 thunderstorm wind. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2011Thunderstorm WindChaffee$100,000A big rig was blown over in Highway 58 near mile marker 170 due to a severe thunderstorm wind gust.

Every storm recorded in Kern County

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 PlaceDistance Sheets
Sage (historical)0.5 miles28
Mojave1.0 miles28
Fram (historical)2.4 miles28
Cambio (historical)2.8 miles28
Reefer City (historical)4.3 miles28
Fleta4.4 miles28
Gold Town (historical)4.5 miles28
Sanborn5.7 miles30

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.

Wikidata item Q5066784The 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 1660465. 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.