Preacher Creek Fire

2004212,279 acresAlaska

The Preacher Creek Fire burned 212,279 acres, about 332 square miles, across Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. It began on June 14, 2004.

Watch how it happened

Preacher Creek Fire · 2004

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
Detections2,992satellite 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 Preacher Creek Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered3.1%6,654
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive28%60,191
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive33%70,039
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change25%53,858
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before5.1%10,822
Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images5.0%10,714

3% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 6,654 acres; 31% 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 AreaAK212,411

Other large fires in Alaska in 2004

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