Fork Fire
199683,147 acresCalifornia
The Fork Fire burned 83,147 acres, about 130 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on August 11, 1996.
Watch how it happenedFork Fire · 1996
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 | 28% | 23,459 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 42% | 35,275 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 17% | 13,892 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 13% | 10,469 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 0.1% | 52 |
28% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 23,459 acres; 71% 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.
| Lake County | CA | 82,779 |
| Colusa County | CA | 430 |
Other large fires in California in 1996
- Fifty-Eight Fire94,832 acres
- Ackerson Complex (Ackerson)58,227 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.