This file was created by scanning the printed publication.
Errors identified by the software have been corrected;
however, some errors may remain.
United States
Department
of Agriculture
Forest Service
Intermountain
Research Station
General Technical
Report INT-304
Fire Growth Maps
for the 1988 Greater
Yellowstone Area Fires
January 1994
Richard C. Rothermel
Roberta A. Hartford
Carolyn H. Chase
THE AUTHORS
RICHARD C. ROTHERMEL is a senior scientist at the
lntermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula,
MT. He served 26 years as Project Leader of the Fire
Behavior Research Work Unit there. Rothermel has
degrees from the University of Washington (B.S.
aeronautical engineering, 1953) and Colorado State
University (MS. mechanical engineering, 1971). He
has published and lectured extensively both in the
United States and abroad. His most notable contribution has been the development of a fire spread model
that has been used as the basis for the National Fire
Danger Rating System and several other systems
that require an estimate of fire behavior. Rothermel
is working with scientists in Australia and Canada to
develop models for the next generation of fire behavior
and fire danger systems.
ROBERTA A. HARTFORD is a forester at the lntermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory in Missoula, MT.
She began working at the Fire Lab in 1968, assisting
with studies on the chemical and physical properties of
fuels. During the early 1970's she also worked seasonally in fuel inventory and taught high school science.
Since 1976 she has remained at the Fire Lab where
she has been involved in studies of fuels and fuel bed
properties, smoldering combustion, and fire behavior
of both laboratory and wi!d!and fires. Recent work
includes studies in the use of satellite remote sensing
to assess fire potential in wildland vegetation and the
use of geographic information systems to document
wildfire growth. She has a B.A. degree in zoology
from the University of Montana in Missoula and an
MS. degree in forestry there.
CAROLYN H. CHASE is a mathematician stationed
at the lntermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory. She
received her B.A. degree in mathematics from the
University of Montana in 1969. Chase began working
at the Fire Lab in 1978; she is a member of the systems development and application team. Her current
work includes integration of geographic information
system technology for the next generation of fire
danger and fire behavior prediction systems.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
organizations. Without their support this comprehensive project would not have been possible.
The Denver office of the National Park Service, for its
assistance in installing hardware and software, GRASS
and UNlX training, preparing data tapes compatible
with our computer system, and continued support in
problem resolution.
The Boise office of the National Park Service, for
lending its work station to start the project before
purchase of our machine.
Yellowstone National Park, for lending the wall map
assembled at park headquarters in Mammoth during
the summer of 1988, preparing additional data for
transfer to our system, helping locate missing data, and
accepting the responsibility to distribute the electronic
data.
Andy Norman from the Bridger-Teton National Forest
for interpreting fire growth on the Huck and Mink Fires
and providing maps of those fires.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of the Interior for partially funding this work from
the grant for Greater Yellowstone Area postfire response studies.
The GIs Laboratory at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, for digitizing the initial data from the
headquarters wall map.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
The growth of the 1988 fires in the Greater
Yellowstone Area from June 14 to October 1 has been
digitized and displayed in the form of daily fire growth
maps. A geographic information system (GIs) was
used to process the data for distribution and analysis.
The fire record integrates information and data from a
variety of sources, including daily infrared photography
flights, satellite imagery, ground and aerial reconnaissance, command center intelligence, and the personal
recollections of fire behavior observers. Using GRASS
GIs software, fire position was digitized from topographic maps to construct a file of daily fire location in
vector format. The vector file was converted to raster
format for further analysis. The data base is available
in electronic form. A summary of the growth of the fire
and points of interest throughout the summer is included.
The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable
assistance of many individuals in the following
Cover: The cover shows the daily growth of the 1988 Yellowstone
Fires. Each color represents one day's growth.
Intermountain Research Station
324 25th Street
Ogden, UT 84401
Fire Growth M a ~ for
s the 1988
Greater ell ow stone Area Fires
Richard C. Rothermel
Roberta A. Hartford
Carolyn H. Chase
1
I
I
INTRODUCTION
I n the summer of 1988, Yellowstone National Park
and adjoining areas within the National Forests,
commonly referred to as the Greater Yellowstone
Area (fig. I), experienced the most extensive forest
fires seen in the Western States since the great
Northwest fires of 1910. As the summer progressed
and the fires continued to spread unabated, it became apparent that unprecedented opportunities for
studying large-fire behavior were a t hand. However,
the very size, intensity, and remoteness of the fires,
as well as widespread smoke, made personal observation and mapping all but impossible. Fortunately,
there was a strong effort to map fire progress for use
in strategic and tactical fire planning.
National Parks and National Forests forming the
Greater Yellowstone Area include Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and portions of the Custer, Targhee, Bridger-Teton, Gallatin,
Beaverhead, and Shoshone National Forests. Major
fires included in the data set are the North ForkWolf Lake, Fan, Hellroaring, Storm Creek, CloverMist, Huck, Mink and the Snake Complex, consisting of the Falls, Red, and Shoshone Fires.
A research effort was initiated soon after the fires
were over to reconstruct the fire behavior and the
conditions that produced 3 months of large-fire
growth. The purpose was to put together a data set
suitable for analyzing large-fire growth. Of particular importance to further study are growth progression, rates of spread, and relation of fire progress to
weather and terrain.
he GRASS (U.S. Army Construction Engineering
Research Laboratory 1988) geographic information
system (GIs) software was used to store and organize the data. The growth layer produced by the
G I s contains polygons made up of perimeters representing the fire position, each with the single attribute of date. A complete set of fire growth maps
is shown in appendix A. Those maps show the daily
fire growth summarized by week. Each color indicates a different day's growth. Fire growth previous
to the current week is shown in black, lakes and
streams are blue; roads are brown. Daily colors
grade from "cool" early in the week, through "warm,"
~~
~
~~
~
with red indicating growth on the last day of the
week. These data are available in electronic format.
Appendix B describes how to obtain the data set and
gives details about file contents, formats, and sizes.
One of the key elements of this work has been a
comprehensive effort to resolve conflicting or incomplete data and to develop maps accurately depicting
the growth of the fires. Considerable thought and
care were given to preparation 6f the fire growth
map, but there are many potential sources of error;
the data should not be considered to be the absolute
truth. Boundaries, streams, and sites used for reference a t map production scales were taken from a variety of sources and were digitized a t a variety of
scales. These results should not be considered for
determining legal questions such as whether or when
a fire burned a particular feature. If readers have
additional data or corrections they feel should be included in the data set, contact the authors with the
details. All suggested additions or corrections will be
evaluated early in 1995 and published if warranted.
~~~~
MAP PREPARATION
The initial data were taken from a large wall map
assembled from Department of the Interior, U.S.
Geological Survey quadrangle maps (quads) a t Yellowstone National Park Headquarters a t Mammoth.
The location of the fires was recorded on this map,
to the extent possible, each day throughout the summer. Figure 2 shows quad coverage over the fire
area. The data were obtained primarily from aircraft using infrared (IR) scanners. Two aircraft
were available until late August, when one was sent
to other fires. Unfortunately, the largest fire growth
was taking place a t this time, and one aircraft could
not cover all of the active fire perimeter in one night
of flying. Areas on the Snake Complex in the south,
the Clover-Mist Fire in the eastern section, and the
North Fork-Wolf Lake Fire were not well mapped
late in the summer.
The majority of daily fire positions on the headquarters map couldbe verified with IR overlays or
with chronology information (USDA.USDI 1988).
Daily fire growth prior to centralized mapping (and
between IR flights) was reconstructed with the help
Figure 1-This figure shows the final perimeters of the 1988 fires in the Greater Yellowstone
Area. The colored boxes indicate areas covered by the maps in append~xA. Yellowstone
National Park is outlined in black.
Crown
Bune
Miner
Mount
Cowen
Mount
Douglas
Mount
Wood
Mount
Wallace
Cutoff
Mountain
Cooke
Gardiner
Tower
Junction
Abiathar
Pilot
Mammoth
w
I
Tepee
Creek
m
Mount
Holmes
.
West
Yellowstone
w
Madison
Junction
w
Buffalo
Lake
B
w
Norris
Junction
. .
Old
Faithful
Pelican
Sunlight
.
West
Thumb
W
m
m
Canyon
Village
Beartooth
Butte
Peak
8
Grassy Lake- HuckleberryReservoir
Mountain
W
Two Ocean
Mount
~anmckPass
W
w
Figure 2-Names and locations of U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle (quad) maps that cover the
area described in this report. Quad corners are marked, with quad names inside the area covered
by the map.
Dead
Indian
Peak
.
.
Deep
Lake
I
of maps from the archives a t Mammoth and with additional documentation from the files of individual
fire teams. In some cases, two or more versions of
the daily fire position were found on maps from different sources. Chronology, weather reports, and
the teams' shift plan notes were used to select the
most probable fire location. Infrared imaging flights
were oRen made after midnight; the dates for some
polygons had originally been set by the date of the
IR flight instead of the burn-period date. Infrared
flight map times and dates and some IR flight log
information were used to verify or correct dates of
fire growth. Through these efforts, most map dates
could be verified by one or more sources of information. In areas flown and mapped daily, the headquarters map perimeters and dates were corrected
with a high degree of certainty.
Some of the fire locations in the interior of the fire
were uncertain due to large-scale fire activity and
the lack of time and resources to map all perimeters.
In these cases, we used our experience in fire behavior along with weather records and topography to
identify probable dates and perimeter locations.
When a n area was not observed for several days, a
"best-guessn date was assigned based on written descriptions or interviews with fire behavior specialists assigned to the fmes. When neither of these
methods could be used; the areas were dated as
"burned by" the date the perimeter was finally flown.
The fires rarely stopped moving at the end of a
day, and the time of the depicted fire growth snapshot was not the same for every 24-hour period.
Table l+Area
Date
Consequently, fires that made a continuous run past
midnight are shown as spreading on two separate
days. This is especially noticeable from late August
until September 10.
Table 1shows burned areas by fire and by day,
giving the area in acres (table l a ) and in hectares
(table lb). The daily fire growth area has been calculated as the area within the perimeter outlining
each day's growth (excluding bodies of water).
A fire severity map (Despain and others 1989) was
produced from satellite imagery after the fires had
stopped spreading. We compared the final perimeter of the fire growth map to severity to locate
burned areas not included on the headquarters map.
Some of the outermost perimeters were matched to
the final perimeter shown on the severity map and
dated by the fire chronology report. Fires do not
burn the vegetation in all areas completely, but
leave unburned pockets and irregular perimeters.
Large unburned areas within the fires' perimeters
were excluded when possible, but the fires burned
as mosaics and many small patches of unburned vegetation could not be identified or excluded. Thus the
area within a smoothed estimate of final perimeter
will overpredict the actual area burned. This problem was discussed by the report of the Burned Area
Survey Team (1988) and Despain and others (1989).
Figure 3 shows the relationship between the growth
perimeters and the burned area as seen by satellite
(the basis for the severity map). Tables 2a through
2h show the breakdown of growth areas by severity
class by day for each of the major fire complexes.
burned per day (acres)for each fire, and totals
Fan
North Fork
Clover-Mist Hellroarina
Storm Creek
Mink
Snake
Huck
Totals
.....
52
4,097
384
1.190
288
676
388
11,232
373
10.394
1,528
4,502
3,108
4,995
17,857
17,382
4,368
13,319
26.807
3.865
(con.)
Table l a (Con.)
Date
Totals
Fan
27,346
North Fork
531,182
Clover-Mist Hellroaring
396.268
101.996
5
Storm Creek
143,661
Mink
Snake
Huck
Totals
144,698 222,871 120,387 1,688,409
Table lb--Area burned per day (hectares) for each fire, and totals
Date
Fan
North Fork
Clover-Mist Hellroaring
Storm Creek
Mink
Snake
Huck
Totals
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -------------.. . - - - - - - - - - -
6/30
712
713
715
7110
7112
7113
7114
7116
7117
7118
7119
7/20
7/21
7/22
7/23
7/24
7/25
7/26
7/27
7/28
7/29
7/30
7/31
811
812
813
814
815
816
8l7
818
819
8110
811 1
8112
8113
8114
8115
8116
8117
8118
8119
8/20
8/21
8/22
8/23
8/24
8/25
8/26
8/27
8/28
8/29
8/30
8/31
911
912
913
21
746
0
85
117
36
0
0
63
72
0
0
62
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4.588
495
239
1,377
31 8
1,301
0
336
222
369
0
0
0
93
285
0
0
25
0
0
0
185
34
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
00
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
111
922
1,317
758
297
858
0
206
3,213
808
923
0
736
908
661
266
1,200
791
3,247
3,203
0
1.039
290
3,653
1.103
2.1 94
1,447
2,566
5,058
1,600
4,093
3,544
2,288
4.250
2,397
1,709
2,133
1,730
7,550
2,452
2,805
4,966
6,616
0
0
0
0
0
0
84
2,887
0
31 1
0
1,405
0
692
5,170
4,112
0
718
9,838
108
0
0
0
1
131
1,397
626
3,102
0
394
0
1,092
1,414
1,223
2,535
1,558
1.089
309
168
7.846
200
549
2,866
22,534
1.215
1,703
1,189
706
2,139
604
808
5,179
4.1 11
1,045
1,126
774
702
1,045
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
483
887
1,984
8,044
149
1,042
0
797
1,242
850
1,162
0
212
1,196
1,349
1,964
1,983
1,177
0
912
155
297
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.494
9,528
0
0
0
2,622
1,063
0
2,659
0
6,198
5,472
1,666
97
3,376
2,189
0
0
0
0
0
0
67
1.659
0
3.824
407
354
1.176
1,062
729
780
334
786
140
0
0
0
0
658
0
170
612
0
229
1,062
0
0
583
141
1,055
279
298
10
104
664
0
1,287
1,428
13,187
0
0
476
397
0
0
0
0
6,755
3,628
1,372
0
0
0
0
0
0
100
0
236
6
0
88
0
21 1
63
20
268
1,328
2,032
512
2,570
112
1.160
430
341
332
1,334
2,787
1,242
1,422
2,213
2,270
1,072
64
2,091
455
83
252
473
69
0
163
221
36
823
1,692
892
7,072
606
3,753
2,350
118
1,125
0
0
9.595
15,614
680
414
2,572
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2,660
1.848
1,177
1,956
1.410
1,337
2,501
360
0
2,634
3,965
143
0
0
0
21
1,658
155
482
117
272
157
4,546
151
4,207
618
1.822
1,258
2,022
7,227
7.035
1.768
5,391
10,848
1.565
1,288
341
538
5,206
8,314
4,227
2,899
7,428
3.725
4,490
330
4,719
3,465
5,063
7,045
2,310
2,495
702
4,373
9.834
2,913
5,018
13,030
61,903
11,884
8,806
10,952
10,570
10,149
7,477
6.698
7.312
31,235
38,470
8,788
6,054
13,599
11,027
(con.)
Table 1b (Con.)
Date
Fan
North Fork
Clover-Mist Hellroarlng
Storm Creek
Mink
Snake
Huck
Totals
- - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - . - - - - - -Hectares
-...--------.- - - - - - . - - - - - - . . . . . . .
914
915
916
9n
918
919
9110
911 1
9112
9113
9114
9115
9116
9117
9/22
9/24
9/25
9/26
1011
Totals
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1,304
3,116
22,507
11,241
7,803
59,685
11,824
109
6.788
0
1.024
1,017
0
2,643
0
0
0
0
0
448
527
10,052
13.518
12,589
9,611
5,660
3,173
434
0
1,447
0
1 74
0
962
198
1,069
2,893
912
198
1,739
872
2,323
3,729
4.323
3.197
0
0
0
0
375
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1,322
1,654
2,973
8,649
0
2,446
2,367
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
556
231
0
0
3,836
7,727
0
0
495
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
11,069
214,969
160,372
41,277
58,139
58,558
POINTS OF INTEREST
Even though the fires burned under similar conditions, they often developed unique characteristics;
sometimes unusual events distinguished one from
another.
Fan Fire-The Fan Fire, burning in the northwestern corner of the park, was initially of great concern because of the possibility it might spread out of
Yellowstone National Park onto private lands, posing a threat to the Yellowstone Valley near Gardiner.
The fire produced severe behavior in late July and
early August. But of all the fires that were fought,
i t was suppressed most successfully. Although it
reached a total size of 27,346acres (11,069hectares),
it was held without significant growth after the
middle of August.
S n a k e Complex-Initially the Falls, Shoshone,
and Red Fires made up the Snake Complex. This
complex, which burned together by August 23,was
named after the Snake River, which has its headwaters in the southwestern portion of Yellowstone National Park. These fires had the potential to bum
extensive acreage in the park due to the prevailing
southwesterly winds. Grant Village was the first facility threatened, and tourists were evacuated so defensive preparations could be made. The problem
of spot fires £rom wind-blown firebrands that would
frustrate fire control all summer became evident on
July 23,when the Shoshone Fire crossed the south
0
0
0
3,297
2,653 3,380
3,267 11.838
0
0
7,470 4,955
3,005 4,999
0
0
0
0
445
259
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3,272
10,889
42,668
50,836
24,121
92,326
30,779
3,282
7,222
1,199
2,471
1,392
1 74
2,643
962
198
1,069
2,893
912
90,202 48,719 683,305
entrance highway despite the best efforts of fire
crews and the use of aircraft to drop retardant.
The Huck Fire started on August 20,joined the
Snake Complex, and burned across the park below
Yellowstone Lake. On August 30,the Snake Complex burned into the Mink Creek Fire in the southeastern comer of the park.
Mink Creek =+The
Mink Creek Fire, started
by lightning on the Bridger-Teton National Forest,
made significant runs in mid-July. The fire was
burning within and near some of the heaviest dead
and down fuels encountered throughout the Greater
Yellowstone Area. A high-elevation cyclone the year
before had laid down timber in a swath nearly 15
miles (24kilometers) long; the cyclone created a
heavy log deck about 3 miles (4.8kilometers) long
and a mile (1.6kilometers) wide that was now adjacent to the fire. Because of the threat to nearby
ranches, the incident command team was instructed
to keep the fire from burning into the heaviest of the
blowdown. A burnout was conducted on July 20 to
isolate the fire from the large log deck. This was
done successfully, but the fire moved north following
the upper Yellowstone River headwaters, reaching
Yellowstone National Park on July 23. After entering the park, the fire curved to the east, burning
through the park's southeastern corner and out onto
the Shoshone Forest.
The combination of the Snake Complex and the
Huck and Mink Fires covered a total of 487,956
Fgure 3-Growth perimeters are shown in black with overlaidcolors indicating various
levels of fire severity. The fires burned in patches, leaving a mosaic of unburned areas.
Areas of red were burned by crown fires, green by surface fires, and yellow by mixed
surface and crown fires.
acres (197,479 hectares) straddling the park's southern boundary.
Clover-Mist, Hellroaring, and Storm Creek
Fires-The Clover and Mist Fires burned together
in midJuly. ARer merging with several other fires,
it became the largest fire complex in the park during
July and August, encompassing a total of 232,710
acres (94,184 hectares) by August 31. Since the fire
was in the rugged east-central portion of the park,
access was all but impossible. Smoke prevented
aerial surveillance. The fire made a &n toward the
open range a t the northern end of the Lamar Valley,
but it was successfullystopped on August 16 when it
burned into a sagebrush-grass area where fue crews
had good access. This action prevented the fire from
entering the Soda Butte Creek drainage where prevailing southwesterly winds could have taken it into
the towns of Silver Gate and Cooke City.
On Saturday, August 20, referred to as Black
Saturday, the Clover-Mist Fire burned approximately
55,000 acres (22,500 hectares) just south of Cooke
City: On the same day, winds estimated to be over
60 miles per hour (96 kilometers per hour) drove the
Hellroaring Fire to the north, completely burning
out the trees a t the upper end of the Hellroaring
drainage. Concurrently, the Storm Creek Fire to the
east spread south toward Silver Gate and Cooke
City. The magnitude of these three fires was beyond
the experience of anyone present. Some fire managers questioned whether the Clover-Mist Fire had
caused inflows that pulled the Storm Creek Fire to
the south, while the Clover-Mist and Hellroaring
Fires were spreading to the north. Investigation at
the time concluded that i t probably had not, due to
the large valleys and mountain ridges between the
Clover-Mist and Storm Creek Fires.
During the last week of August and the first week
of September, these three fires posed a severe threat
to Silver Gate and Cooke City. Bulldozers constructed a broad fuel break just outside the northeast park entrance as a holding line for a burnout
operation to protect the towns. Unfortunately, firebrands from the burnout crossed the line (Interagency Congressional Oversight Task Force 1988)
and some of the most fervent firefighting of the summer took place to protect Cooke City and Silver Gate.
Table 2a-Percent of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Fan Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National
Park
Date
6130
712
715
7110
7112
7116
7117
7/20
811
812
813
814
815
816
818
819
8110
8114
8115
8/18
8/22
8/23
Cano~v Mixed
burn* burn
In Yellowstone Park'
Nonforest Undifferentiated
burn
burn
Water
Unburned
Outside Yellowstone Park2
Cano~v Mixed Nonforest
burnburn
burn
OtheP
35.71
49.01
28.53
21.84
0.00
12.25
7.67
20.65
16.16
8.44
18.53
3.61
3.31
12.78
9.09
7.31
29.07
21.83
15.69
57.58
16.89
5.19
'Based on Oespain and others (1989). Unburned includes area they calculated as undeiineated bwn (surfaceburn under dense, unburned
canopies that often appeared unburned to the satellite). Undifferentiatedbum consisted of burned areas of varied composition that could not
reliably be placed in another category.
'The corresponding data within Yellowstone National Park were refinedby Despain and others (1989).These figuresprovide an indication of
severity patterns outside park boundaries and are subject to correction as a result of refinement.
'includes unburned lands and water.
Table 2 b P e r c e n t of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for ihe North Fork Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National Park
Date
Canopy
burn
Mlxed
burn
In Yellowstone Perk'
Nonforest
Undlfferentleted
burn
burn
Water
Unburned
Outside Yellowstone Perk2
Canopy
Mixed
Wonforest
burn
burn
bum
Other'
'Based on Despaln and others (1989). Unbumea includes area they calculated as undelineatedbum (surface bum under dense, unburned canopies that ollen
appeared unburned tothe satellite). Undiflerentiatwbum mnsisted of bumed areas of varied mmposillon that could not reliably be placed in another category.
The mnespanding data within Yellowstone National Park were relined by Despaln and others (1989). These figures pmvide an Indication of severilq PaUems
outside park boundaries and are subject to mrredion as a result of refinement.
alncludesunburned lands and water.
Table 20--Percent of perimeter area burned by severity class by day lor the Clover-Mist Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National Park
Data
Canopy
bum
Mixed
burn
In Yellowstone Perk'
Nonforest
Undlfferentlated
burn
burn
Water
Unburned
Outside Yellowstone Park2
Canopy
Mixed
Nonforest
burn
burn
burn
Other'
'Based on Despain and others (1989). Unburned includes arealhey calculated as undelinealed bum (surface bum under dense, unburned canopies that onen
appeared unburned to the satellite). Undifferentiated burn wnsisled of burned areas of varied mrnpcsilion that could not reliably be placed in anolher category.
'The mnesponding data within Yellowstone National Pa* were refined by Despain and others (1989). These figures provide an indication of severity patterns
outside park boundaries and are subiwcl to mrrection as a result of refinement.
'Includes unburned lands and waier.
11
Table 2c&Percent of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Hellroaring Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National Park
Date
Canopy
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Mixed
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
In Yellowstone Perk'
Nonforest
Undifferentiated
burn
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Water
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Unburned
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Outside Yellowstone Park2
Canopy
Mixed
Nonforest
burn
burn
burn
OtheP
10.82
52.17
30.81
36.32
1.18
12.43
11.14
20.99
43.29
29.41
22.43
13.15
5.21
18.00
19.77
17.99
1.71
2.79
5.26
5.70
0.00
0.98
0.50
3.46
44.17
15.62
41.50
44.83
93.61
68.58
66.56
57.56
'Based an Despar and otners 11989) Unodrneo nc~des
area they calcLlaleo as unde ineateo o m (s~rtaceo m .noer dense. .nodrned canop es Inat ohen
appeareo unb~rneoto the sale Ile) Unotlerenl aled bun cons sled of Dbmed ateas of vane0 mmpcsltton lnatcodd not re .aoiy be place0 m anolner categov
'Tne correseanalna dala w 111 n Ye lowstone hatonal Park were ref ned by Dewam an0 aVlers (1989). Tnese fgures pmu oe an lnolcat on of sover fy panerns
outside park boundarks and are subject to correction as a result of refinement.
'Includes unburned lands and water.
Table 2e--Percent of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Storm Creek Fire in and outside of YellowsIOne National Park
Dale
Canopy
burn
Mixed
burn
712
7n
76
8119
8/20
8/24
8/25
8/27
8/29
8/30
8/31
911
912
913
914
915
916
9n
919
9110
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.41
17.92
11.44
30.01
7.99
1.50
0.00
0.59
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.29
5.88
12.88
19.36
10.86
2.57
0.00
8.45
In Yellowelone Perk'
Nonforest
Undifferentiated
burn
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
7.41
7.85
0.30
0.51
0.61
0.00
6.09
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.35
8.95
2.74
0.54
3.78
0.53
0.00
0.13
Water
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Unburned
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3.23
18.34
44.15
22.61
30.00
14.67
0.00
40.23
Outside Yellowstone ParkZ
Nonforest
Canopy
Mixed
burn
burn
burn
Other
19.58
13.53
18.67
9.74
41.18
22.62
11.15
7.70
10.66
32.29
35.08
20.10
45.25
21.16
6.1 1
10.73
8.54
30.81
14.56
2.78
18.67
6.12
16.48
10.21
16.68
16.12
21.47
7.31
6.42
26.22
29.95
23.20
21.78
8.02
4.61
9.05
13.70
13.65
14.95
4.97
1.32
4.83
5.05
16.95
10.30
5.65
1.95
4.17
6.99
5.19
7.74
7.47
4.16
2.75
1.19
1.35
3.78
6.30
8.31
1.13
60.43
75.52
59.80
63.10
31.86
55.61
65.44
80.82
75.93
36.31
27.22
49.23
24.54
8.57
9.04
6.05
20.86
29.36
64.19
37.64
'Based on Desparn and others (1989). Unb~meoincluoes area lhey calalated as .noel neated b m (surtaa, bum under dense. ~nbJrnedcan0p.E mat onen
d oLme0 amas of varied mmposMon Ulal could not lei'+ y beplaced In anothor catepocy.
appeared ~nbdmed
tolhe salsll~te).Und;nersnt ated b ~ r mns:sted
n
T h e mrresmndma dala wiih n Yellowstone Natma Park were retined bv Dasoain and olners 11989). These Imres prnvlde an molcatlon of sevenhl panems
'lnclides unburned lands and waier
Table 21-Percent
Date
of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Mink Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National Park
Canopy
burn
Mixed
burn
In Yellowstone Park'
Nonforest
Undlfterentiated
burn
burn
Water
Unburned
Outslde Yellowstone Park'
Canopy
Mixed
NonforeSt
burn
burn
burn
OtheP
' b e d on Despain and others (1989). Unburnedinciudes area they cakuiated as undeiineatedburn (surface burn under dense, unburned canopies thal ollen
appeared unburned to the satellite). UndiHsrentiated bum consisted of burned areas ol varied composition that could not reliably be placed in another categow.
'The WrreSoOndin~
data within Yellowstone National Park were refined by Despain and others (1989). These figures provide an indication of severity panerns
oulside park baundarks and are subject to correction as a result of refinern&
'Includes unburned lands and water.
Table Z e P e r c e n t of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Snake Fire in and outside of Yellowslone National Park
-
In Yellowstone Perk'
Canopy
burn
Mixed
burn
Nonforest
burn
Undilierentiated
burn
Wmar
Unburned
~
Outside Yellowstone Park2
Canopy
Mixed
Nonforest
burn
burn
burn
Other'
'Based on Despain and othen (1969). Unburnedincludes area they calculated as undelineatedbum (surfacebum under dense, unburned canopies that onen
appeared unburned to the satellite). Undiflerentiatedburn consisted of burned areas of varied composition that could not reliably be placed in another category.
iThe WrreSWndinO data within Yellowslone National Park were refined bv DesDain
and others (19691.
'
.
. These fi!lures provide an indication of severih Patterns
outside park bbunda&s and are subject to correction as a result of refinsmint.
'Includes unburned lands and water.
Table 2h-Percent
Date
-
8/20
8/21
8/22
8/23
8/24
8/25
8/26
8/27
8/29
8/30
8/31
915
916
9/7
919
9110
9/13
of perimeter area burned by severity class by day for the Huck Fire in and outside of Yellowstone National Park
Canopy
burn
Mixed
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
6.76
0.00
1.47
0.00
6.24
11.07
5.47
5.69
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
4.59
0.00
6.22
0.00
2.51
16.97
7.02
14.75
I n Yellowstone Park'
Nonforest
Undifferentiated
burn
burn
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.95
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.70
0.09
1.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.96
0.00
0.80
0.00
1.12
4.25
0.74
0.39
~
Water
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-
Unburned
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
5.51
0.00
6.39
0.00
2.12
37.74
13.47
42.24
Outside Yallowstone Park2
Canopy
Mixed
Nonforest
burn
burn
burn
Other
42.43
19.46
13.95
20.81
27.50
13.42
11.49
2.71
12.16
24.49
0.00
29.42
16.84
23.31
3.93
18.76
8.49
30.93
27.67
40.16
28.65
32.09
28.25
26.40
16.04
20.73
19.22
12.94
22.76
29.97
17.97
8.46
19.67
7.91
~p
4.60
7.70
4.74
6.77
3.05
3.23
5.11
4.03
3.37
3.11
1.05
4.77
6.21
6.93
0.58
4.83
0.77
22.05
45.17
41.16
43.77
37.36
55.09
57.00
77.22
63.74
34.35
86.01
28.18
46.98
39.80
16.29
29.96
18.71
-
'Based on Oespam an0 olhers (1989) Lnb.me0 ncl~oesarea they calcu alw as mde. nealw o m isdace b m Lnoer dense. no-me0 canop;os thal onen
appearm Lnburneo lo me sale ile. Jnd,Herenlmlso burn wns slw ol ojrned areas ol rat eo mmposil on lnal ca. d no1 re1 a0 y be placao n anolner category
'Tne mrrespond ng oata .+.Inon Ye lowslane Nalzona Pam rere ref ned oy Despam and olners ( 1 989,. These lq.res provide an md calm of sever ry panerns
OdlS de Par* bomdar es an0 are s.o;scl lo wrrecl on as a resu I of rel'nomenl.
%cludss unburned lands and wafer.
The Clover-Mist Fire continued to spread to the
east, with fingers burning into the Clark Fork Valley where many homes and stmctures were located.
Some of the heaviest damage to personal property
took place in this area.
One of the most dramatic single runs by any of the
fires took place on the south end of the Clover-Mist
Fire in the evening and early morning of September
6 and 7; the fire ran 14 miles out of the park, burning over 37,000 acres (15,000 hectares) in Jones
Creek near the park's southeast entrance.
North Fork Fire--The North Fork Fire was
started July 22 just outside the western boundary
of the park by a woodcutter on the Targhee Forest.
It became the Greater Yellowstone Area's largest
fire, burning across 531,182 acres (214,969 hectares)
by the end of the burning season. For administrative and logistic purposes, the north end of the North
Fork Fire was designated the Wolf Lake Fire. The
North Fork Fire was fought from the time it was discovered. At first, it was viewed as a threat to the
Old Faithful area, but driven by prevailing southwesterly winds, it spread to the northeast. This fire systematically overran most of the facility complexes
within the park. Madison Junction Campground was
endangered on August 15;the humidity dropped to
single digits and the wind gusted to 35 miles per
hour (56 kilometers per hour). The North Fork Fire
crossed the highway and jumped the Madison River
as it headed up the Gibbon Valley toward Nonis.
The fire reached Norris Junction on August 20 and
burned past the junction on the 22d, continuing t o
the northeast toward Canyon Village. Three days
later, on August 25, it split to the north and south
of the village. Extraordinary defensive actions by
fire crews averted loss a t these three facilities.
Even West Yellowstone, outside the west entrance,
was threatened by the North Fork Fire when downcanyon winds began spreading the fire t o the west
and out of the park. The fire made significant runs
from the first through the third of September. Fortunately, it was held south of the town. But holding
the fire did not stop the smoke. Every morning in
late summer, residents of West Yellowstone awoke
to a fog of smoke enveloping the town.
By the end of the first week of September, the dry
cold fronts that were causing the strong southwesterly winds increased in strength and frequency.
Winds on the 6th and 7th of September caused the
North Fork Fire to spread toward Old Faithful.
Again, fire crews saved all but a few minor stmctures as firebrands spotted across the valley and
the fire ran past this major tourist attraction.
Yellowstone National Park Headquarters at
Mammoth was also threatened by the fire's progress
northward. On the night of September 9 and the
early morning of the loth, the fire reached the road
approaches to Mammoth and was burning down the
north slope of Bunsen Peak, just south of the community. Fortunately, the weather changed before
the flames reached Mammoth. The humidity rose,
rain began, and snow capped the higher peaks.
Although suppression action continued for some
weeks, the Yellowstone Fires of 1988 posed no more
threats.
Comparisons of the sues of other large fires may
help to give some perspective to the growth of the
Yellowstone Fires. The Sundance Fire that spread
16 miles (26 kilometers) across northern Idaho in
1967 covered 55,000 acres (22,300 hectares) in 1day
(Anderson 1968). The Canyon Creek Fire, driven by
a surfacing jet stream (Goens 19901, spread 23 miles
(37 kilometers) in two large fronts on September 6
and 7,1988, covering 165,000 acres (66,800 hectares)
on those 2 days. Over 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) were estimated to have burned in northern
Idaho and western Montana during the great 1910
fires (Koch, n.d.). Most of the fire growth occurred
during a 4-day period from August 20 to 23. During
the 5-day period from September 6 through 10, the
North Fork Fire in Yellowstone National Park grew
by 279,374 acres (113,060 hectares). During this period the total size of fires i n the Greater Yellowstone
Area increased by 614,618 acres (240,730 hectares).
The area encompassed by the final perimeter of the
1988 Yellowstone Fires was about 1.7 million acres
(690,000 hectares). Within the park, the actual burn
area was about 65 percent of the perimeter area (estimated from the severity maps of Despain [1989],
after accounting for irregular fire perimeter and islands of unburned fuel).
REFERENCES
Anderson, Hal E. 1968. Sundance Fire: an analysis
of fire phenonema. Res. Pap. INT-56. Ogden, UT:
U S . Department ofAgriculture, Forest Service,
Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment
Station. 39 p.
Burned Area Survey Team. 1988. Preliminary
burned area survey of Yellowstone National Park
and adjoining National Forests. Yellowstone National Park, WY: Greater Yellowstone Post-Fire
Resource Assessment Committee, U.S. Department
of the Interior, National Park Service; U S . Department of Agriculture, Forest Service; National
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Montana
State University. 27 p.
Despain, Don; Rodman, Ann, Schullery, Paul;
Shovic, Henry. 1989. Burned area survey of
Yellowstone National Park: the fires of 1988.
Yellowstone National Park, WY: US. Department
of the Interior, National Park Service, Yellowstone
National Park. 14 p.
Goens, David W. 1990. Meteorological factors
contributing to the Canyon Creek blowup,
September 6 and 7,1988. In: Proceedings,
fifth conference on mountain meteorology; 1990
June 25-29; Boulder, CO. Boston, NIA: American
Meteorological Society: 180-186.
Interagency Congressional Oversight Task Force.
1988. Greater Yellowstone Area Fire Situation
1988. [Phase I report]. West Yellowstone, MT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service;
US. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service. 60 p.
Koch, Elers. [n.d.l. History of the 1910 forest
fires in Idaho and western Montana. [Publisher
unknown]. On file at: US. Department of Agriculture, Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences Laboratory, Fire Behavior Research Work Unit, Missoula, MT. 25 p.
U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research
Laboratory. 1988. Geographic Resource Analysis
Support System (GRASSbusers and programmer's manual. USA-CERL ADP Rep. N-87/22.
Champaign, IL: Environmental Division, U S .
Army Constmction Engineering Research
Laboratory.
US. Department ofAgriculture; U.S. Department of
the Interior. 1988. Greater Yellowstone Area Fire
Situation, 1988. [Phase I1 Report]. Lakewood, CO:
US. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Region 2; National Park Service, Rocky Mountain
Region. 207 p.
APPENDIX A: FIRE GROWTH MAPS
To permit larger scale maps of growth through the summer. only portions of the Greater Yellowstone Area
are shown. Figure 1shows the windows of coverage appearing in each of the following series.
Page
Page
The North Fork and Fan Fires
For the week ending:
July 2 .................................................................18
July 9 ................................................................ 19
July 16............................................................... 20
July 23 ............................................................... 21
July 30 ...............................................................22
For the week ending:
August 6 ........................................................... 23
August 13 ..........................................................24
August 20 ..........................................................25
August 27 ..........................................................26
For the week ending:
September 3 ......................................................27
September 10 ................................................. 28
September 17 ....................................................29
The Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
For the week ending:
30
July 2 .................................................................
July 9 .................................................................
31
July 16........................................................... 32
July 23 ...............................................................33
July 30 .............................................................. 34
The Clover-Mist Fire
For the week ending:
July 16 ............................................................... 42
July 23 .......................................................... 43
July 30 ...............................................................
44
For the week ending:
August 6 ............................................................ 45
August 13 .......................................................... 46
August 20 ..........................................................47
August 27 ........................................................48
For the week ending:
September 3 ...................................................... 49
September 10 ....................................................50
September 17 .................................................... 51
September 24 .................................................... 52
For the week ending:
October 1...........................................................53
The Snake. Huck. and Mink Fires
For the week ending:
July 9 ................................................................. 54
July 16 ...............................................................55
July 23 ............................................................... 56
July 30 ...............................................................57
For the week ending:
August 6 ..........................................................35
August 13 ......................................................... 36
August 20 ......................................................... 37
August 27 ......................................................38
For the week ending:
August 6 ............................................................58
August 13 ..........................................................59
August 20 ........................................................ 60
August 27 ..........................................................61
For the week ending:
September 3 ......................................................39
September 10 ................................................... 40
September 17 .............................................. 41
For the week ending:
September 3 ...................................................... 62
September 10 ....................................................63
September 17 ....................................................64
West 4
Yellowstone
No Data
Through 6/25/88
6/26/88
I
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending July 2,1988
0
5
10
15
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
25 miles
'
West
Yellowstone
P
W
No D L .
Through 7/2/88
7/3/88
7/4/88
7/5/88
7/6/88
ERE:
0
7/9/88
0 Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending July 9,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
J-i
No Data
a Through 7/9/88
7110188
7115/88
711 6/88
rn Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending July 16,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
West 3
Yellowstone
H
No Data
Through 7116/88
7117/88
7118/88
7119/88
7120188
5 7/21/88
77/22/88
m7123188
5 Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending July 23,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
'
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
I
,
west
Yellowstone
No Data
mThrough 7/23/88
7/24/88
7/25/88
a7126188
7/27/88
0 7/28/88
@ 7/29/88
Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending July 30,1988
0
5
10
15
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
25 miles
west 4
Yellowstone
No Data
C] Through 7130188
7131/88
6/1/88
r] Wus8
8/3/88
8/4/88
8/5/88
C] 8/s/88
Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 6,1988
0
5
10
15
20
L
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
West r
Yellowstonc
a
g
g
a
No Data
Through 8/6/88
8n188
8/8/88
8/9/88
8/10/88
8flll88
8/12/88
8/13/88
Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 13,1988
0
5
10
15
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
I
25 miles
I
I
I
n No Data
I
m..-.-aL
North Fork and Fan Fires
for week ending Aug. 20,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2
..
.- km
.....
.
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
,
West
Yellowstone
17 No Data
Through 8/20/88
8/21/88
812U88
5 8/23/88
% 8/24/88
8/25/88
8/26/88
81 8/27/88
Water
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 27,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
West
~e~~owstone'
fa
17 No Data
rn Through 8/27/88
pJ 8/28/88
8/29/88
j@l 8130188
w 3 m
fg9/1/88
9lus8
j@l 9/3/88
Water
/a
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 3,1988
0
5
10
15
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
20
I
-
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
Canyon
[1 NOData
Through 9/3/68
9/4/88
@J 9/5/88
@J 9/6/68
gl 9/7/88
9/8/88
@ 9/9/88
FE'
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 10,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
_I
. ,.
North Fork and Fan Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 17,1988
40.2 km
Storm Creek Fire: 6/14/881
o Data
m h r o u g h 6/25/88
E] 6/26/88
6/27/88
E] 6/28/88
6/29/88
130188
11/88
g 7/2/88
g Water
m
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending July 2,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
No Data
g Through 7/9/88
g 7110188
g 7111/88
18 7112/88
&l7/13/88
p~7114/88
~17/15/88
7116/88
Water
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending July 16,1988
0
I
5
I
10
I
15
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
I
25 miles
I
No Data
h; ; ; ; ;
7116/88
1iz!
7/21/88
el 7/22/88
g 7/23/88
Water
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending July 23,1988
0
5
I
I
.
10
15
20
I
I
I
40.2 krn
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending July 30,1988
e] 7/26/88
DEE
DZE
Water
0
I
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 rn~les
I
No Data
m Through 7130188
Sji 7/31/88
@ 8/1/08
8lU88
8/3/88
8/4/88
8/5/88
8/6/88
m Water
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 6,1988
20
(February 1993)
25 miles
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 13,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
IHellroaring Fire: 8/15/88 1
Growth for week ending Aug. 20,1988
40.2 km
37
.
h
Id
g
No Data
Through 8120188
8/21/88
8/22/88
8/23/88
i.
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 27,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
No Data
Through 8/27/88
8/28/88
li
:EE:
e]
8/31/88
9/1/88
9/2/88
9/3/88
Q Water
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 3,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 10,1988
40.2 km
(February 1993)
No Data
rn Through 9110188
911 1/88
91lU88
9/13/88
epl 9114/88
9/15/88
9116/88
rn 9117/88
Q Water
Hellroaring and Storm Creek Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 17,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
I Mist Fire: 71918t1
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending July 16,1988
40.2 km
7116/88
(February 1993)
El No Data
1?1 Through 7116/88
01 7117/88
01 7118/88
1?1 7119/88
&1 7120188
%] 7/21/88
[11] 7/22/88
7/23/88
Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending July 23,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
East Entrance
7/24/88
0 7/25/88
Q
7/28/88
7/29/88
Q 7/30/88
n Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending July 30,1988
0
I
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
I Fern Fire: 8/5/881
East Entrance
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Aug. 6,1988
40.2 km
0
E]
E]
@
E]
f
No Data
Through 8/6/88
8/7/88
8/8/88
8/9/88
8Il0188
8111/88
8112/88
8/13/88
Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Aug. 13,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 m~les
I
Cooke City
*
Tower Jct
17 NOData
rn Through 8113/88
rn Ell4188
Ell5188
8/16/88
8/17/88
E] 8ll8/88
8/19/88
8120188
Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Aug. 20,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 krn
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
rl'
Cooke City
( Sour Fire: 8/27/881
East Entrance
No Data
M Through 8/20/88
&I 8/21/88
rn 8/22/88
0 8/23/88
&I 8/24/88
rn 8/25/88
8/26/88
8/27/88
g Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Aug. 27,1988
0
5
I
I
10
15
20
I
I
I
40.2km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
+
Cooke City
No Data
Q Through 8/27/88
8/28/88
g 8/29/88
8/30/88
8/31/88
9/1/88
$1 9/2/88
Q 9/3/88
Q
LII] Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Sept. 3,1988
0
5
10
I
I
I
15
20
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
rl'
Cooke City
-7
East Entrance
Prn
No Data
Through 9/3/88
9/4/88
9/5/88
9/6/88
9/7/88
9/8/88
9/9/88
9/10/88
a
rn
mwater
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Sept. 10,1988
0
I
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
Tower Jct
I
No Data
Through 9110188
911 1/88
g 9112/88
9/13/88
9114/88
9115/88
9116/88
9117/88
g Water
en
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Sept. 17,1988
0
5
10
15
I
I
I
I
40.2km
20
I
.
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
No Data
Through 9117/88
1Jp
9/i8/88
@ 9/22/88
9/23/88
9/24/88
aB Water
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Sept. 24,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
East Entrance
I
C] No Data
rn Through 9/24/88
9/25/88
Clover-Mist Fire
Growth for week ending Oct. 1,1988
25 miles
@ 9/29/88
9130188
1 O/l/88
Water
(February 1993)
El
Q
Cg
Q
Q
Q
No Data
Through 7/2/88
7/3/88
7/4/88
7/5/88
7/6/88
7/7/88
7/8/88
7/9/88
Water
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending July 9,1988
0
I
5
I
10
I
15
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
I
25 miles
I
No Data
Q Through 7/9/88
Q 7110188
81 711 1/86
fl 7112/88
ael 711
3/88
7114/88
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending July 16,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
@711
I 5/88
40.2 km
e] 7116/88
Q Water
(February 1993)
.
25 miles
I
n N o Data
~ 7 1 2 ~ 8 8
E]712t I88
7/22/88
07/23/88
Water
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending July 23,1988
15
40.2 km
(February 1993)
20
25 miles
No Data
E Through 7/23/88
CJ 7/24/88
7/25/88
7/26/88
El 7/27/88
7/28/88
a] 7/29/88
C] 7130188
Water
an
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending July 30,1988
25 miles
Madison
CiNo Data
&Through 7130188
m7131/88
E]8ll/88
58/2/88
8/3/88
0 8/4/88
m8/5/88
ecl8/6/88
Elwater
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 6,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
*
Madison
'9
East Entrance
L
Old Faithful
No Data
m~hrough8/6/88
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 13,1988
8i7188
8/8/88
25 miles
Wan 3/88
water
I
(February 1993)
Madison
No Data
5 Through 8/13/88
dI UI4/88
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 20,1988
0
5
10
15
40.2km
(February 1993)
20
25 miles
*
Madison
East Entrance
No Data
5 Through 8120188
5 8/21/88
8/22/88
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Aug. 27,1988
5 8/23/88
8/24/88
8/25/88
8/26/88
5 8/27/88
Water
25 miles
40.2 km
.
(February 1993)
No Data
Through 8/27/88
5 8/28/88
Q 8/29/88
8/30/88
8/31/88
911188
9/2/68
9/3/88
5 Water
rn
rn
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 3,1988
0
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
I
40.2 km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
n No Data
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 10,1988
25 miles
g 9/7/88
rn 9/8/88
@ 9/9/88
9110/88
g Water
40.2km
-
(February 1993)
[I] No Data
Through 9/10188
9111/88
9Ilu88
9113/88
9/14/88
C] 9115/88
9116/88
r] 9117/88
Water
Snake, Huck, and Mink Fires
Growth for week ending Sept. 17,1988
0
I
5
10
15
20
I
I
I
I
40.2km
(February 1993)
25 miles
I
APPENDIX B: THE ELECTRONIC DATA BASE
The electronic data set i s a GRASS (US.
A r m y Construction Engineering Research Laboratory 1988) mapset
o f approximately 3.5 megabytes, which has a Universal Transverse Mercator ( U T M ) zone 12 projection and i s
bounded b y t h e following coordinates (meters):
North:
South:
East:
West:
5034650
4851650
634200
477850.
Elements o f the mapset are described in the following table:
Type
Vector
Name
perimeters
Description
0.001-inch digitizing resolution from 1:62,500 and 1:24,000 US. Geological Survey
quads; contains daily burn period positions
Raster
perimeter
50- x 50-m resolution: a composite derived from the digitized perimeters vector file
with water-covered areas taken out; attributes (categories) are the first confirmed
date for burning of the area
Raster
firemasks
50- x 50-m resolution: a masking layer which can be used to separate individual
fires for analysis purposes; the fires are mutually exclusive and exhaustive with
regard to areas burned
Sites
starts
Fire-start locations labeled by date of start
The electronic data set for f i e growth i s available from:
N a t i o n a l P a r k Service
P.O. Box 168
Yellowstone National Park,
WY 82190
Rothermel, Richard C.; Hartford, Roberta A,; Chase, Carolyn H. 1994. Fire growth maps
for the 1988 Greater Yellowstone Area Fires. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-304. Ogden, UT:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 64 p.
Daily fire growth maps display the growth of the 1988 fires in the Greater Yellowstone
Area. Information and data sources included daily infrared photography flights, satellite
imagery, ground and aerial reconnaissance, command center intelligence, and the
personal recollections of fire behavior observers. Fire position was digitized from
topographic maps using GRASS GIs software to construct a file of daily fire location in
vector format, later converted to raster format for further analysis. The data base is
available in electronic form.
KEYWORDS: forest fires, fire growth, geographic information systems, Yellowstone
National Park, fire mapping
Federal Recycling Program
a
Printed on Recycled Paper
INTERMOUNTAIN
RESEARCH STATION
The Intermountain Research Station provides scientific knowledge and technology to improve management, protection, and use of the forests and rangelands of the Intermountain
West. Research is designed to meet the needs of National Forest managers, Federal and
State agencies, industry, academic institutions, public and private organizations, and individuals. Results of research are made available through publications, symposia, workshops,
training sessions, and personal contacts.
The Intermountain Research Station territory includes Montana, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and
western Wyoming. Eighty-five percent of the lands in the Station area, about 231 million
acres, are classified as forest or rangeland. They include grasslands, deserts, shrublands,
alpine areas, and forests. They provide fiber for forest industries, minerals and fossil fuels for
energy and industrial development, water for domestic and industrial consumption, forage for
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Several Station units conduct research in additional western States, or have missions that
are national or international in scope.
Station laboratories are located in:
Boise, Idaho
Bozeman, Montana (in cooperation with Montana State University)
Logan, Utah (in cooperation with Utah State University)
Missoula, Montana (in cooperation with the University of Montana)
Moscow, Idaho (in cooperation with the University of Idaho)
Ogden, Utah
Provo, Utah (in cooperation with Brigham Young University)
Reno, Nevada (in cooperation with the University of Nevada)
The policy of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service prohibits
discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, or disability,
familial status, or political affiliation. Persons believing they have been discriminated
against in any Forest Service related activity should write to: Chief, Forest Service, USDA,
P.O. Box 96090, Washington, DC 20090-6090.