Wildfires of 2002

Ponil Complex

2002Colfax County, New MexicoWildfire

The Ponil Complex burned 92,194 acres in Colfax County, New Mexico, in 2002. It was discovered on June 3, 2002, and contained on June 5, 2002. MTBS dates its ignition to June 8, 2002. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
92,194 acres
Discovered
June 3, 2002
Contained
June 5, 2002
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 89,018 acres. Point of origin as reported, 36.608, -105.109.

The record

Reported final size
92,194 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
89,018 acres
Area inside the final perimeter
86,558 acres
Discovered
June 3, 2002, 4:51 p.m. local time
Ignition (MTBS)
June 8, 2002
Contained
June 5, 2002
Cause
Natural
State
New Mexico
County
Colfax County
Reporting unit
New Mexico State Forestry Division
Agency
Forest Service
Unit
NMCAF
Part of
Ponil Complex
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
NM3668210504720020608
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
SFO-2002NMFDNM00350402-02-20871003X
Perimeter map method
Digitized Other

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
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
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.