Wildfires of 1997

Peace River Fire

1997AlaskaWildfire

The Peace River Fire burned 3,200 acres in Alaska, in 1997. It was discovered on July 22, 1997, and contained on July 29, 1997. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
3,200 acres
Discovered
July 22, 1997
Contained
July 29, 1997
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 7,957 acres. Point of origin as reported, 65.216, -161.453.

The record

Reported final size
3,200 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
7,957 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
7,788 acres
Discovered
July 22, 1997, 12:14 p.m. local time
Contained
July 29, 1997, 1:06 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Alaska
Land ownership at origin
Bureau of Land Management
Reporting unit
Alaska Fire Service
Agency
Bureau of Land Management
Unit
AKGAD
Incident type
Wildfire
Unique fire identifier
1997-AKGAD-00B619
MTBS fire identifier
AK6521616145319970722
MTBS assessment
Extended
Fire occurrence record
W-9385
Perimeter map method
Image Interpretation
Note on the perimeter
Fire perimeter modified using Landsat Image Service. Image ID: LE07_L2SP_078014_19990822_20200918_02_T1.

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 Alaska in 199712

FireAcresStartCause
Inowak Fire606,945Jun 25, 1997Natural
Simels Fire365,871Jun 7, 1997Natural
Magitchlie Creek Fire308,120Jun 10, 1997Natural
George River Fire101,820Jun 26, 1997Natural
Garfield Creek Fire76,300Jul 22, 1997Natural
Titnuk Creek Fire71,760Jun 24, 1997Natural
Many Lakes Fire47,300Jul 21, 1997Natural
West Fork Nixon Fire47,060Jul 5, 1997Natural
B 484 Fire44,050Jul 3, 1997Natural
Reindeer Fire37,900Jul 22, 1997Natural
Kokhila Hills Fire36,400Jun 8, 1997Natural
Roketaloi Fire35,490Jul 3, 1997Natural

Every fire of 1997 Alaska fire history

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.