Yellow 2 Fire

198753,586 acresCalifornia

The Yellow 2 Fire burned 53,586 acres, about 84 square miles, across Siskiyou County. It began on August 30, 1987.

Watch how it happened

Yellow 2 Fire · 1987

How it happened

See how severely each place burned, revealed outward from where it started.

About this replay
IgnitionAugust 30, 1987Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area53,586 ac
Revealed—
Counties1

How severely it burned

Burn severity inside the final perimeter, classified from Landsat images taken before and after the fire.

Map of burn severity across the Yellow 2 Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered5.5%2,962
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive16%8,714
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive44%23,315
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change34%18,209
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.7%386

6% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 2,962 acres; 22% 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.

Acres burned by county
Siskiyou CountyCA53,625

Other large fires in California in 1987

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.