Reindeer Fire

2002225,602 acresAlaska

The Reindeer Fire burned 225,602 acres, about 353 square miles, across Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. It began on July 17, 2002.

Watch how it happened

Reindeer Fire · 2002

How it happened

Watch it burn in the order satellites saw it, coloured by how severely each place burned.

About this replay
Date (UTC)—Historical replay
Burned so far—acres
High severity—of the area so far
Detections1,085satellite fire pixels

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 Reindeer Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered18%40,124
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive36%80,988
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive28%62,085
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change5.7%12,962
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.2%535
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images13%28,908

18% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 40,124 acres; 54% 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
Yukon-Koyukuk Census AreaAK225,782

Other large fires in Alaska in 2002

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