Edge Complex

200569,237 acresArizona

The Edge Complex burned 69,237 acres, about 108 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on July 16, 2005.

Watch how it happened

Edge Complex · 2005

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
Detections173satellite 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 Edge Complex
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered17%11,745
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive33%23,068
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive37%25,524
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change13%8,728
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.2%173

17% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 11,745 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
Maricopa CountyAZ43,549
Gila CountyAZ25,741

Other large fires in Arizona in 2005

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