Trail Creek Fire

200033,538 acresIdaho

The Trail Creek Fire burned 33,538 acres, about 52 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on August 15, 2000.

Watch how it happened

Trail Creek Fire · 2000

How it happened

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

About this replay
IgnitionAugust 15, 2000Historical replay — order not recorded
Final area33,538 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 Trail Creek Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered35%11,658
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive15%5,147
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive11%3,750
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change38%12,598
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.1%48
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images1.0%337

35% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 11,658 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
Elmore CountyID33,509
Camas CountyID38

Other large fires in Idaho in 2000

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