Three Lakes Fire

200835,944 acresAlaska

The Three Lakes Fire burned 35,944 acres, about 56 square miles, across Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area. It began on July 2, 2008.

Watch how it happened

Three Lakes Fire · 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
Detections270satellite 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 Three Lakes Fire
Burn severity by class
SeverityShareAcres
Highmost vegetation consumed, soils altered5.7%2,041
Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive33%11,962
Lowsurface fire, most trees survive30%10,783
Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change31%11,113
Increased greennessvegetation greener after the fire than before0.1%45

6% of the area inside the perimeter burned at high severity, about 2,041 acres; 39% 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 AreaAK35,956

Other large fires in Alaska in 2008

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