Backbone Fire
202141,157 acresArizona
The Backbone Fire burned 41,157 acres, about 64 square miles, across 2 counties. It began on June 17, 2021.
Watch how it happenedBackbone Fire · 2021
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 | 6.7% | 2,743 |
| Lowsurface fire, most trees survive | 82% | 33,853 |
| Unburned to lowislands inside the perimeter, little change | 11% | 4,560 |
No part of the fire was classed as high severity; 7% 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.
| Yavapai County | AZ | 34,145 |
| Gila County | AZ | 7,037 |
Other large fires in Arizona in 2021
- Telegraph Fire187,117 acres
- Mescal Fire79,300 acres
- Rafael Fire75,698 acres
- Pinnacle Fire35,244 acres
Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service). Type recorded: Wildfire.