Wildfires of 1996

MCFWEST3 Fire

1996TexasWildfire

The MCFWEST3 Fire burned 5,388 acres in Texas, in 1996. It was discovered on January 24, 1996, and contained on January 25, 1996. The cause was recorded as arson/incendiarism.

Size
5,388 acres
Discovered
January 24, 1996
Contained
January 25, 1996
Cause
Human

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 5,656 acres. Point of origin as reported, 29.633, -94.183.

The record

Reported final size
5,388 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
5,656 acres
Discovered
January 24, 1996, 6:01 p.m. local time
Contained
January 25, 1996, 11:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Human, Arson/incendiarism
State
Texas
Land ownership at origin
Fish and Wildlife Service
Reporting unit
McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge
Agency
Fish and Wildlife Service
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
TX2964609417119960124
MTBS assessment
Initial (SS)
Fire occurrence record
FWS-1996TXMCR2278
Note on the perimeter
Boundaries determined by using given acres to determine which burn areas to incl.

The three sizes are three measurements: the size the agency reported when the fire was out, the burned area MTBS drew from satellite imagery before and after, and the GIS area inside the final perimeter, unburned islands included. They rarely agree exactly.

Other large fires in Texas in 199612

FireAcresStartCause
Pitchfork Fire27,223Apr 24, 1996
Triangle Fire26,294Mar 23, 1996
Buckle L Fire20,354Mar 23, 1996
Henrietta Fire13,702Mar 16, 1996
North Memphis Fire13,166Apr 25, 1996
Potter 1 Fire13,000Mar 23, 1996Human
Poolville Fire12,201Mar 16, 1996
Highway 70 Fire10,771Feb 27, 1996
Unnamed Fire6,487Feb 1, 1996
Unnamed Fire5,380Mar 26, 1996
Unnamed Fire5,367Mar 16, 1996
Unnamed Fire3,946Mar 7, 1996

Every fire of 1996 Texas fire history

Nearby

Sources

Burned areas and ignition dates from Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (MTBS), a program of the US Geological Survey and the USDA Forest Service. Fire reports from Short, Karen C. 2022, Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014], 6th Edition, Forest Service Research Data Archive, doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6. Records before 2014 were joined by this site: a fire report to the burned area its MTBS identifier names, a perimeter to the burned area it lies in when the names or the sizes agree.