Fergus, California
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1918 and the latest in 1983. It stands in the Merced census division. It lies in ZIP code area 95348. It stands on Canal Creek. The Survey maps it on the Atwater quadrangle. It stands 157 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1918 to 1983The same ground, surveyed 65 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 17 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.
- 1918 USGS Atwater quadrangle1:31680
- 1947 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1948 USGS Atwater quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1956 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Atwater quadrangle1:24000, 4 printings
- 1961 USGS Atwater quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1962 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1966 USGS San Jose quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Merced quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
1,366 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1,366 fires within 5 miles of Fergus between 1992 and 2020, burning about 2,330 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 127 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 | 740 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 232 |
| Debris and open burning | 156 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 127 |
| Smoking | 43 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 43 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 15 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 5 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | E BELLEVUE RD ATWATER_CI |
| 9 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | NORTH BEAR CREEK DR E MCK |
| 9 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | PACIFIC |
| 9 September 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | BERMUDA |
| 9 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | DECOY AV / CONVOY RD |
| 9 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Merced-Mariposa Unit | ROADSIDE 262 |
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | STRETCH RD MCKEE |
| 8 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Merced-Mariposa Unit | ATWATER BL ATWATER_CITY |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
4 since 2022Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fergus in 4 storm reports between 2022 and 2024: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2024 | Flood | Fergus | - | California Highway Patrol reported that a Toyota Corolla was stuck in flood water on SR 99 between Merced and Atwater. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Fergus | - | Public report of flooding concealing a large pothole on SR 99 just north of the Franklin Rd. exchange. |
| January 2023 | Flood | Fergus | - | Public report of roadway flooding on the onramp of southbound SR 99 and W. 16th St. in Merced. |
| December 2022 | Flood | Fergus | - | California Highway Patrol reported roadway flooding at the intersection of N. Fox and W. Cardella in Atwater. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoff (historical) | 1.4 miles | 17 | |
| Buhach | 2.6 miles | 17 | |
| Cuba (historical) | 3.1 miles | 17 | |
| Merced | 3.2 miles | 16 | |
| Castle Gardens | 3.4 miles | 17 | |
| Fluhr | 3.6 miles | 17 | |
| Bellevue (historical) | 3.9 miles | 16 | |
| Nairn (historical) | 4.2 miles | 17 |
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 Q5444154 | 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 1659721. 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.
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.








