Wildfires of 2003

First Fire-Code 1 Fire

2003North CarolinaWildfire

The First Fire-Code 1 Fire burned 2,300 acres in North Carolina, in 2003. It was discovered on May 12, 2003, and contained on May 19, 2003. The cause was recorded as firearms and explosives use.

Size
2,300 acres
Discovered
May 12, 2003
Contained
May 19, 2003
Cause
Human

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 2,317 acres. Point of origin as reported, 35.690, -75.785.

The record

Reported final size
2,300 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
2,317 acres
Discovered
May 12, 2003, 2:00 p.m. local time
Contained
May 19, 2003, 4:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Human, Firearms and explosives use
State
North Carolina
Reporting unit
Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge
Agency
Fish and Wildlife Service
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
NC3568707581320030512
MTBS assessment
Initial (SS)
Fire occurrence record
FWS-2003NCALRD350
Note on the perimeter
FOD point from state reports 26000 acres but I think that was a typo. 2600 may be a little more like it.

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 North Carolina in 20031

FireAcresStartCause
Roanoke Marsh 2 2 5 A Fire3,150Jan 12, 2003

Every fire of 2003 North Carolina 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.