Twin Butte Fire

199532,552 acresIdaho

The Twin Butte Fire burned 32,552 acres, about 51 square miles, across 3 counties. It began on July 28, 1995.

Watch how it happened

Twin Butte Fire · 1995

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionJuly 28, 1995Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area32,552 ac
Revealed—
Counties3

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 Twin Butte Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered2.4%768
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive52%17,062
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive41%13,476
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change3.7%1,205
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.1%41

2% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 768 acres; 55% 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
Owyhee CountyID17,897
Elmore CountyID7,746
Twin Falls CountyID6,905

Other large fires in Idaho in 1995

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