Sixteen Fire

199937,143 acresCalifornia

The Sixteen Fire burned 37,143 acres, about 58 square miles, across 4 counties. It began on October 16, 1999.

Watch how it happened

Sixteen Fire · 1999

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionOctober 16, 1999Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area37,143 ac
Revealed—
Counties4

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 Sixteen Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered3.0%1,127
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive24%8,971
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive37%13,558
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change35%13,034
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before1.2%453

3% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 1,127 acres; 27% 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
Napa CountyCA25,347
Yolo CountyCA7,955
Colusa CountyCA2,985
Lake CountyCA873

Other large fires in California in 1999

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