Gardiner Creek Fire

199828,795 acresAlaska

The Gardiner Creek Fire burned 28,795 acres, about 45 square miles, across Southeast Fairbanks Census Area. It began on July 2, 1998.

Watch how it happened

Gardiner Creek Fire · 1998

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionJuly 2, 1998Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area28,795 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 Gardiner Creek Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered40%11,380
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive12%3,521
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive9.1%2,614
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change1.6%462
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images38%10,810

40% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 11,380 acres; 52% 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
Southeast Fairbanks Census AreaAK28,824

Other large fires in Alaska in 1998

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