Ladder Fire
198842,334 acresIdaho
The Ladder Fire burned 42,334 acres, about 66 square miles, across Idaho County. It began on August 13, 1988.
Watch how it happenedLadder Fire · 1988
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 | 6.4% | 2,699 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 11% | 4,479 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 23% | 9,858 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 36% | 15,366 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 1.1% | 450 |
| Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images | 22% | 9,482 |
6% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 2,699 acres; 17% 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.
| Idaho County | ID | 42,348 |
Other large fires in Idaho in 1988
- North Fork Fire563,089 acres
- Teepee Butte Fire59,518 acres
- Golden Fire48,138 acres
- Sliver Creek Fire45,068 acres
- Cabin Fire25,883 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.