Wildfires of 1997

West Fork Nixon Fire

1997AlaskaWildfire

The West Fork Nixon Fire burned 47,060 acres in Alaska, in 1997. It was discovered on July 5, 1997. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
47,060 acres
Discovered
July 5, 1997
Cause
Natural

Map

The final perimeter from the Interagency Fire Perimeter History, 47,627 acres, mapped by image interpretation. Point of origin as reported, 63.492, -155.627.

The record

Reported final size
47,060 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
47,627 acres
Discovered
July 5, 1997
Cause
Natural
State
Alaska
Land ownership at origin
State
Reporting unit
Southwest Area
Agency
DVF
Unit
AKSWS
Incident type
Wildfire
Unique fire identifier
1997-AKSWS-704516
Fire occurrence record
SFO-AK0369-97_B516
Perimeter map method
Image Interpretation
Note on the perimeter
Fire perimeter modified using Landsat Image Service. Image IDs: LE07_L2SP_074016_19990911_20200918_02_T1 and LE07_L2SP_074015_19990911_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
B 484 Fire44,050Jul 3, 1997Natural
Reindeer Fire37,900Jul 22, 1997Natural
Kokhila Hills Fire36,400Jun 8, 1997Natural
Roketaloi Fire35,490Jul 3, 1997Natural
Timber Creek Fire27,900Jul 4, 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. 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.