Jasper Fire

200082,243 acresSouth Dakota

The Jasper Fire burned 82,243 acres, about 129 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on August 24, 2000.

Watch how it happened

Jasper Fire · 2000

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionAugust 24, 2000Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area82,243 ac
Revealed—
Counties2

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 Jasper Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered29%23,923
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive21%17,120
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive35%28,421
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change15%12,625
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.2%154

29% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 23,923 acres; 50% 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
Custer CountySD58,067
Pennington CountySD24,230

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