Pitchfork Fire
199627,223 acresTexas
The Pitchfork Fire burned 27,223 acres, about 43 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on April 24, 1996.
Watch how it happenedPitchfork 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 27% | 7,277 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 67% | 18,374 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 5.8% | 1,572 |
No part of the fire was classed as high severity; 27% burned at moderate 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.
| Dickens County | TX | 19,136 |
| King County | TX | 8,086 |
Other large fires in Texas in 1996
- Triangle Fire25,538 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.