Olmstead D Fire
199644,522 acresWyoming
The Olmstead D Fire burned 44,522 acres, about 70 square miles, across Converse County. It began on August 9, 1996.
Watch how it happenedOlmstead D 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 | 8.7% | 3,865 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 59% | 26,166 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 23% | 10,340 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 9.3% | 4,150 |
9% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 3,865 acres; 67% 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.
| Converse County | WY | 44,561 |
Other large fires in Wyoming in 1996
- Eblack Mtn Fire53,228 acres
- Bates Fire47,070 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.