Wildfires of 2003

Cooney Ridge Fire

2003Ravalli County, MontanaWildfire

The Cooney Ridge Fire burned 25,680 acres in Ravalli County, Montana, in 2003. It was discovered on August 8, 2003, and contained on December 31, 2003. MTBS dates its ignition to August 9, 2003. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
25,680 acres
Discovered
August 8, 2003
Contained
December 31, 2003
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 25,756 acres. Point of origin as reported, 46.623, -113.826.

The record

Reported final size
25,680 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
25,756 acres
Discovered
August 8, 2003, 7:30 p.m. local time
Ignition (MTBS)
August 9, 2003
Contained
December 31, 2003, 4:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Montana
County
Ravalli County
Land ownership at origin
State
Reporting unit
Southwestern Land Office
Agency
State or local agency
Part of
Cooney Ridge Complex
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
MT4667111382820030809
MTBS assessment
Extended
Fire occurrence record
ICS209_2003_MT-SWS-143

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 Montana in 200312

FireAcresStartCause
Missouri Breaks Complex125,900Jul 19, 2003Natural
Germaine Fire66,497
Robert Fire57,273Jul 23, 2003Human
Wedge Canyon Fire50,981Jul 18, 2003Natural
Lincoln Complex (Snowbank) Fire37,405Aug 13, 2003Natural
Hobble Fire36,180Aug 8, 2003Natural
Indian Fire33,955
Fish Creek Complex (Thompson Creek) Fire33,948Aug 10, 2003Natural
Big Coulee Fire29,492
Littlehawk Fire25,490Aug 12, 2003Natural
Mineral-Primm (Mineral and Primm) Fire25,202Aug 9, 2003Natural
Rampage Complex (Double Mountain 2) Fire21,000Aug 19, 2003Natural

Every fire of 2003 Montana fire history

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.