Wildfires of 2002

Castle Fire

2002New MexicoWildfire

The Castle Fire burned 3,651 acres in New Mexico, in 2002. It was discovered on August 12, 2002, and contained on September 17, 2002. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
3,651 acres
Discovered
August 12, 2002
Contained
September 17, 2002
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 3,179 acres. Point of origin as reported, 33.494, -107.893.

The record

Reported final size
3,651 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
3,179 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
3,179 acres
Discovered
August 12, 2002, 5:30 p.m. local time
Contained
September 17, 2002, 11:59 a.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
New Mexico
Land ownership at origin
Forest Service
Reporting unit
Gila National Forest
Agency
Forest Service
Unit
NMGNF
Incident type
Wildfire
Unique fire identifier
2002-NMGNF-000215
MTBS fire identifier
NM3348410788220020812
MTBS assessment
Extended
Fire occurrence record
FS-378139
Perimeter map method
Remote Sensing Data - Broad Level

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 New Mexico in 200212

FireAcresStartCause
Ponil Complex92,194Jun 3, 2002Natural
Middle Fire37,600Mar 31, 2002Natural
Walnut Fire31,000Jun 27, 2002Natural
Number 52 Fire16,422Mar 23, 2002Human
Penasco Fire16,020Apr 30, 2002Human
Cherry Fire15,850Jun 4, 2002Natural
Cub Fire13,525Jun 30, 2002Natural
Borrego Fire12,995May 22, 2002Human
Cerro Pelon Fire8,260Jun 2, 2002Natural
Tejon Fire7,420Jun 25, 2002Natural
Kenton Fire6,815Jun 1, 2002Natural
Trampas Fire5,800Jun 15, 2002Natural

Every fire of 2002 New Mexico 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.