Wildfires of 1998

Slow Fork Fire

1998AlaskaWildfire

The Slow Fork Fire burned 21,800 acres in Alaska, in 1998. It was discovered on June 30, 1998, and contained on July 31, 1998. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
21,800 acres
Discovered
June 30, 1998
Contained
July 31, 1998
Cause
Natural

Map

The final perimeter from the Interagency Fire Perimeter History, 20,197 acres, mapped by image interpretation. Point of origin as reported, 63.333, -153.619.

The record

Reported final size
21,800 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
20,197 acres
Discovered
June 30, 1998, 6:30 p.m. local time
Contained
July 31, 1998, 2:06 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Alaska
Land ownership at origin
State
Reporting unit
Alaska Fire Service
Agency
DVF
Unit
AKSWS
Incident type
Wildfire
Unique fire identifier
1998-AKSWS-804307
Fire occurrence record
W-4476
Perimeter map method
Image Interpretation
Note on the perimeter
Fire perimeter modified using Landsat Image Service. Image ID: LE07_L2SP_073015_19990702_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 19986

FireAcresStartCause
Carla Lake Fire53,720May 21, 1998Natural
STP001 Fire42,763Jan 1, 1998
Gardiner Creek Fire31,360Jul 2, 1998Natural
STP001 Fire9,728Jan 1, 1998
West Fork Fire5,760Jun 30, 1998Natural
Walker Fork Fire3,381Jun 3, 1998Natural

Every fire of 1998 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.