Red Bench Fire
198833,850 acresMontana
The Red Bench Fire burned 33,850 acres, about 53 square miles, across Flathead County. It began on September 6, 1988.
Watch how it happenedRed Bench 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 | 27% | 9,137 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 30% | 10,274 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 25% | 8,361 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 17% | 5,590 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 1.4% | 488 |
27% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 9,137 acres; 57% 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.
| Flathead County | MT | 33,845 |
Other large fires in Montana in 1988
- North Fork Fire563,089 acres
- Clovermist Fire303,221 acres
- Canyon Creek Fire167,806 acres
- Storm Creek Fire115,951 acres
- Hellroaring Fire77,539 acres
- Brewer Fire48,246 acres
- Gates Park Fire42,484 acres
- Canyon Creek Fire35,835 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.