Observation Fire
The Observation Fire burned 67,792 acres in Lassen County, California, in 2001. It was discovered on August 9, 2001, and contained on August 17, 2001. The cause was recorded as natural.
- Size
- 67,792 acres
- Discovered
- August 9, 2001
- Contained
- August 17, 2001
- Cause
- Natural
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 67,493 acres. Point of origin as reported, 40.773, -120.240.
The record
- Reported final size
- 67,792 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 67,493 acres
- Discovered
- August 9, 2001, 3:59 p.m. local time
- Contained
- August 17, 2001, 6:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Natural
- State
- California
- County
- Lassen County
- Land ownership at origin
- Bureau of Land Management
- Reporting unit
- Northern California District
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- CA4073412017820010809
- MTBS assessment
- Initial
- Fire occurrence record
- W-105187
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 California in 200112
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Complex (Blue) Fire | 34,319 | Aug 9, 2001 | Natural |
| Trough Fire | 24,970 | Aug 8, 2001 | Human |
| Star Fire | 16,761 | Aug 25, 2001 | Human |
| Darby Fire | 14,280 | Sep 5, 2001 | Human |
| Creek Fire | 11,185 | Aug 18, 2001 | Human |
| Viejas Fire | 10,353 | Jan 3, 2001 | Human |
| Hoover Complex (Hoover) Fire | 9,300 | Jul 10, 2001 | Natural |
| Poe Fire | 8,333 | Sep 6, 2001 | |
| Happy Camp Complex (Swillup) Fire | 8,055 | Sep 15, 2001 | Natural |
| Leonard Fire | 6,800 | Aug 18, 2001 | Human |
| Stables Fire | 6,540 | Oct 12, 2001 | Human |
| Crater Fire | 5,570 | Aug 12, 2001 | Natural |
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.