Slender Smoke Fire

199642,648 acresAlaska

The Slender Smoke Fire burned 42,648 acres, about 67 square miles, across Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. It began on July 11, 1996.

Watch how it happened

Slender Smoke Fire · 1996

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionJuly 11, 1996Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area42,648 ac
Revealed—
Counties1

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 Slender Smoke Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered44%18,852
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive34%14,502
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive14%6,068
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change5.1%2,192
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images2.4%1,034

44% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 18,852 acres; 78% 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
Yukon-Koyukuk Census AreaAK42,683

Other large fires in Alaska in 1996

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