Rosebud Creek Fire
199625,159 acresMontana
The Rosebud Creek Fire burned 25,159 acres, about 39 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on August 5, 1996.
Watch how it happenedRosebud Creek 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 | 4.5% | 1,141 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 11% | 2,723 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 49% | 12,369 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 35% | 8,837 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 0.3% | 88 |
5% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 1,141 acres; 15% 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.
| Rosebud County | MT | 22,525 |
| Custer County | MT | 2,647 |
Other large fires in Montana in 1996
- Powderville Fire54,975 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.