Unnamed Fire
198738,296 acresKentucky and West Virginia
The Unnamed Fire burned 38,296 acres, about 60 square miles, across 6 counties. It began on November 13, 1987.
Watch how it happenedUnnamed Fire · 1987
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 10% | 3,932 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 76% | 29,073 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 14% | 5,291 |
No part of the fire was classed as high severity; 10% burned at moderate 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.
| Martin County | KY | 20,354 |
| Floyd County | KY | 8,174 |
| Pike County | KY | 7,869 |
| Lawrence County | KY | 1,735 |
| Johnson County | KY | 160 |
| Wayne County | WV | 17 |
Other large fires in Kentucky and West Virginia in 1987
- Unnamed Fire66,322 acres
- Unnamed Fire66,160 acres
- Brushy Fire61,193 acres
- Unnamed Fire41,774 acres
- Unnamed Fire32,544 acres
- Unnamed Fire27,304 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Other.