Wildfires of 1996

Ruby Complex (Smiley) Fire

1996NevadaWildfire

The Ruby Complex (Smiley) Fire burned 4,010 acres in Nevada, in 1996. It was discovered on August 26, 1996, and contained on August 29, 1996. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
4,010 acres
Discovered
August 26, 1996
Contained
August 29, 1996
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 4,320 acres. Point of origin as reported, 41.018, -115.168.

The record

Reported final size
4,010 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
4,320 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
6,406 acres
Discovered
August 26, 1996, 8:47 p.m. local time
Contained
August 29, 1996, 6:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Nevada
Reporting unit
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest
Agency
Forest Service
Part of
Ruby Complex
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
NV4103311515819960826
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
FS-315558
Note on the perimeter
statcause was 0, changed to Undetermined

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 Nevada in 199612

FireAcresStartCause
Upper Humboldt Complex (Dutch Flat) Fire67,643Aug 26, 1996Natural
Quinn-Odell Fire58,307Aug 26, 1996Natural
Upper Humboldt Complex (Slaven 2) Fire35,932Aug 26, 1996Natural
Winnemucca Complex (Bloody Run) Fire33,665Aug 26, 1996Natural
Division Fire30,450Aug 1, 1996Natural
Frenchie Fire29,135Sep 10, 1996Natural
Bobs Flat Fire27,972Aug 26, 1996Natural
Upper Humboldt Complex (Getchell) Fire26,598Aug 26, 1996Natural
Winnemucca Complex (Winnemucca) Fire21,367Aug 26, 1996Natural
Humboldt Fire18,800Aug 12, 1996Natural
Rainbow Complex (Mule) Fire17,400Jun 7, 1996Natural
Upper Humboldt Complex (North Chimney) Fire16,600Aug 26, 1996Natural

Every fire of 1996 Nevada fire history

Nearby

Sources

Perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center’s Interagency Fire Perimeter History, compiled from the Forest Service, BLM, BIA, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, the Alaska Interagency Fire Center and CAL FIRE. 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.