Is the Bogus Fire for Real? Fire Officials Have a Way With Names.

After a blaze broke out this week near the Northern California border, it was immediately designated, with little fanfare, Bogus.

Perhaps not the best name — considering it was dangerous enough to prompt evacuations and, at more than 400 acres, is not fully contained — but it originated on Little Bogus Creek Road.

Naming wildfires has for decades been a way to streamline communication, direct resources and inform the public. In California alone, the list of active wildfires is long and colorful: The Cow fire. The Royal fire. The Pay fire. The French fire.

Seemingly random or playful to those unfamiliar with an area, they belie a dull truth. That is, fire names are typically a literal and boring reference to a geographic location.

And so the 2018 Carr fire was named after Carr Powerhouse Road. The 2017 Nuns fire after Nuns Canyon Road. The 2007 Witch fire for Witch Creek.

The names are generated within a split second, usually based on the first idea uttered by the initial fire official on the scene or a dispatcher taking a call. Advised to keep it tied to a nearby landmark, those who christen fires find harried inspiration in roads, mountains and streams. (Although names can often read as though there was no inspiration at all: the Mountain fire, the Lake fire, the Creek fire.)