Canyon Complex (Scotch)

200826,413 acresCalifornia

The Canyon Complex (Scotch) burned 26,413 acres, about 41 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on June 21, 2008.

Watch how it happened

Canyon Complex (Scotch) · 2008

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
Detections355satellite 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 Canyon Complex (Scotch)
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered8.9%2,349
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive19%5,034
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive40%10,606
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change32%8,360
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.2%64

9% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 2,349 acres; 28% 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
Butte CountyCA15,611
Plumas CountyCA10,806

Other large fires in California in 2008

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