Witch Fire
199947,552 acresAlaska
The Witch Fire burned 47,552 acres, about 74 square miles, across Southeast Fairbanks Census Area. It began on June 12, 1999.
Watch how it happenedWitch 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 | 45% | 21,364 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 23% | 11,002 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 19% | 9,185 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 9.1% | 4,319 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 0.2% | 92 |
| Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images | 3.3% | 1,589 |
45% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 21,364 acres; 68% 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.
| Southeast Fairbanks Census Area | AK | 47,588 |
Other large fires in Alaska in 1999
- Kevinjik Fire252,778 acres
- Uvgoon Creek 2 Fire87,891 acres
- Melozi Moran Fire58,959 acres
- Pingo Fire46,057 acres
- Big Ol Monster Fire44,974 acres
- Upperwestfork Fire32,968 acres
- Big Creek Fire31,587 acres
- Mosquito Fire26,199 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.