Grand Prix Fire

200350,755 acresCalifornia

The Grand Prix Fire burned 50,755 acres, about 79 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on October 21, 2003.

Watch how it happened

Grand Prix Fire · 2003

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
Detections425satellite 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 Grand Prix Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered14%7,137
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive41%21,055
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive30%15,354
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change14%7,115
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.2%92

14% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 7,137 acres; 56% 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
San Bernardino CountyCA50,773
Los Angeles CountyCA26

Other large fires in California in 2003

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