Wheeler 2 Fire
1985126,905 acresCalifornia
The Wheeler 2 Fire burned 126,905 acres, about 198 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on July 1, 1985.
Watch how it happenedWheeler 2 Fire · 1985
How it happened
See how severely each place burned, revealed outward from where it started.
How severely it burned
Burn severity inside the final perimeter, classified from Landsat images taken before and after the fire.
| Severity | Share | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered | 27% | 33,905 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 31% | 39,258 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 19% | 24,211 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 19% | 23,647 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 4.6% | 5,883 |
27% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 33,905 acres; 58% burned at moderate or high severity.
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (U.S. Geological Survey and USDA Forest Service). Classes come from the change in a Landsat burn index (dNBR) between images before and after the fire; acres are each class’s share of the fire’s mapped area.
Where it burned
Acres inside each county, measured from the satellite-mapped perimeter.
| Ventura County | CA | 104,214 |
| Santa Barbara County | CA | 22,645 |
Other large fires in California in 1985
- Las Pilitas Fire75,969 acres
- Ferndale Fire46,736 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.