Upperwestfork Fire

199932,968 acresAlaska

The Upperwestfork Fire burned 32,968 acres, about 52 square miles, across Southeast Fairbanks Census Area. It began on June 12, 1999.

Watch how it happened

Upperwestfork Fire · 1999

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionJune 12, 1999Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area32,968 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 Upperwestfork Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered64%21,009
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive20%6,458
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive10%3,318
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change5.9%1,933
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images0.8%249

64% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 21,009 acres; 83% 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 AreaAK32,986

Other large fires in Alaska in 1999

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