The fire burned over two days on the weekend of August 20–21,[3][4] after strong winds caused numerous smaller fires to combine into a firestorm of unprecedented size. It killed 87 people,[5] mostly firefighters,[6][7] destroyed numerous manmade structures, including several entire towns, and more than three million acres of forest with an estimated billion dollars worth of timber was lost.[6] It is believed to be the largest, although not the deadliest, forest fire in U.S. history.[8] The extensive burned area was approximately the size of the state of Connecticut.[2]