Wildfires of 2002

Number 52 Fire

2002New MexicoWildfire

The Number 52 Fire burned 16,422 acres in New Mexico, in 2002. It was discovered on March 23, 2002, and contained on March 29, 2002. The cause was recorded as human.

Size
16,422 acres
Discovered
March 23, 2002
Contained
March 29, 2002
Cause
Human

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 16,063 acres. Point of origin as reported, 33.284, -105.515.

The record

Reported final size
16,422 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
16,063 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
16,392 acres
Discovered
March 23, 2002, 12:00 p.m. local time
Contained
March 29, 2002, 5:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Human, Undetermined
State
New Mexico
Land ownership at origin
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Reporting unit
Mescalero Agency
Agency
Forest Service
Unit
NMBIA
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
NM3329110544820020323
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
W-347549
Perimeter map method
GPS - Uncorrected Data

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
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
Middle Tank Fire4,274Apr 23, 2002

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.