Forest Fires in the United States
& Preliminary 1999 Fire Season Summary
16 November 1999
The Wildland Fire Assessment System, provided by "The Fire Behavior Research Work Unit", Missoula (Montana USA), produces following fire danger map.
Fig. 1. Fire Danger Forecast Map, 15 November 1999
(Source: Fire Behavior
Research Work Unit, Missoula)
Several active fire signals are recorded by OSEI with the NOAA-14 POES AVHRR HRPT satellite on 14 November 1999 in Kentucky and West Virginia.
Fig. 2. The image shows heat signatures and smoke
plumes from areas of fire in Kentucky and West Virginia. Kentucky officials have called
out the National Gaurd to assist fire fighters.
(Source: NOAA http://www.osei.noaa.gov/)
The Wildland Fire Update from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) will be updated every Friday unless significant activity occurs.
Several states in the West and Midwest experienced significant fire activity last week as unseasonably warm and dry conditions persisted. Extreme fire conditions were being reported from California, Colorado, Wyoming, Indiana, Illinois, and Virginia. Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada and Oregon also reported large fires last week, but all were contained within two days.
In the Fire Weather Outlook from 12 November 1999 was reported, that Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio will be dry and mild Sunday through Tuesday, except for a chance of showers in northern Ohio. South Dakota will be dry and unseasonably warm over the weekend, with gusty winds Tuesday and Wednesday and a chance of showers Thursday. Southern Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado will be dry and unseasonably warm. Valley rain and mountain snow is expected on Tuesday through Thursday.
Preliminary 1999 Fire Season Summary
The Year-to-Date Wildland Fire Statistics as of 12 November 1999 for the United States
shows that 86,202 wildland fires burned a total of 2,213,009 ha.
Fig. 3. Top 10 Largest Fires of the Season (as of 5
November)
(Source: National Interagency
Fire Center)
Tab. 1. Top 10 Largest Fires of 1999
| No. (map) |
Location (State) | Agency Lands | Hectares | Date (from time of Report to Containment of the fire) |
| 1 | Nevada | Bureau of Land Management | 146,358 |
4-11 August |
| 2 | Nevada | Bureau of Land Management | 84,781 | 5-12 August |
| 3 | Nevada | Bureau of Land Management | 63,519 | 4-10 August |
| 4 | California | Shasta-Trinity National Forest | 56,876 | 23 August - 3 November |
| 5 | Idaho | Bureau of Land Management | 56,217 | 3-7 August |
| 6 | California | Los Padres National Forest | 35,086 | 8 September - 1 November |
| 7 | Nevada | Bureau of Land Management | 33,184 | 6-12 August |
| 8 | Alaska | Upper Yukon Zone - State Lands | 31,930 | 12 June - 18 July |
| 9 | Nevada | Bureau of Land Management | 29,340 | 8-13 July |
| 10 | North Dakota | Dakota Prairie National Forest | 27,519 | 31 October - 3 November |
Tab. 2. Number of wildland fires and hectares affected so far in 1999 by geographic area
| Geographic Regions in the United States | Number of Wildfires | Number of Hectares |
| Alaska | 482 | 412,957 |
| Northwest | 4,471 | 50,873 |
| California | 9,596 | 297,700 |
| Northern Rockies | 3,022 | 81,105 |
| Eastern Great Basin | 2,185 | 221,421 |
| Western Great Basin | 1,114 | 690,896 |
| Southwest | 3,398 | 50,431 |
| Rocky Mountain | 3,232 | 41,099 |
| Eastern | 17,243 | 48,145 |
| Southern | 41,459 | 318,382 |
Total United States |
86,202 | 2,213,009 |
(Updated: 12 November 1999; both tables were extracted
from sources of the National
Interagency Fire Center).
For more information please refer to the website of NIFC.
According the INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION REPORT the situation for 12 November 1999 can be quoted as follows:
"...
CURRENT (12 November) SITUATION
There was moderate initial attack activity in the Eastern and Southern Areas. New large
fire activity occurred in the Southern Area. Very high to extreme
fire indices were reported in California, Colorado, Wyoming, Indiana, Illinois, and
Virginia.
... ."
Following basic fire data describe the fire situation in the United States:
| Number of FIRES in the last 24 hours | HECTARES burning in the last 24 hours | FIRES YEAR-TO-DATE |
HECTARES YEAR-TO-DATE |
| 63 | 1,044 | ditto | ditto |
For detailed information regarding specified regions, please refer to the whole report.