Cerro Grande Fire
200044,265 acresNew Mexico
The Cerro Grande Fire burned 44,265 acres, about 69 square miles, across 4 counties. It began on May 5, 2000.
Watch how it happenedCerro Grande Fire · 2000
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 | 33% | 14,800 |
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 18% | 8,169 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 22% | 9,957 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 26% | 11,307 |
| Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before | 0.1% | 32 |
33% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 14,800 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.
| Los Alamos County | NM | 35,235 |
| Sandoval County | NM | 8,032 |
| Rio Arriba County | NM | 825 |
| Santa Fe County | NM | 185 |
Other large fires in New Mexico in 2000
- Valentine Complex35,666 acres
- Grande Complex34,583 acres
- Johnny Fire34,306 acres
- Chance Fire33,112 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.