Cato Fire
201226,808 acresWyoming
The Cato Fire burned 26,808 acres, about 42 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on June 25, 2012.
Watch how it happenedCato Fire · 2012
How it happened
Watch it burn in the order satellites saw it, coloured by how severely each place burned.
How severely it burned
Burn severity inside the final perimeter, classified from Landsat images taken before and after the fire.
| Severity | Share | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| Moderatemixed: many trees killed, some survive | 29% | 7,753 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 34% | 9,157 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 2.8% | 752 |
| Not mappedcloud, shadow or water in the satellite images | 34% | 9,144 |
No part of the fire was classed as high severity; 29% burned at moderate 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.
| Johnson County | WY | 26,338 |
| Sheridan County | WY | 478 |
Other large fires in Wyoming in 2012
- Arapaho Fire99,972 acres
- Oil Creek Fire63,138 acres
- Fontenelle Fire58,079 acres
- Alpine Lake Fire39,149 acres
- North Buffalo Fire28,306 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.