Megram- Orleans Fire
1999125,231 acresCalifornia
The Megram- Orleans Fire burned 125,231 acres, about 196 square miles, across 3 counties. It began on August 23, 1999.
Watch how it happenedMegram- Orleans Fire · 1999
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 | 10% | 12,856 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 20% | 24,461 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 57% | 71,649 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 13% | 16,011 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 0.2% | 254 |
10% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 12,856 acres; 30% 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.
| Trinity County | CA | 67,315 |
| Humboldt County | CA | 57,928 |
| Siskiyou County | CA | 82 |
Other large fires in California in 1999
- Willow Fire63,475 acres
- Gun 2 Fire61,170 acres
- Kirk Complex (Hare)43,032 acres
- Sixteen Fire37,143 acres
- Kirk Complex (Five)36,149 acres
- Mhrd Complex (Bucks)34,445 acres
- Jones Fire26,799 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.