Wildfires of 2003

Lightning Fire

2003CaliforniaWildfire

The Lightning Fire burned 2,180 acres in California, in 2003. It was discovered on July 16, 2003, and contained on July 17, 2003. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
2,180 acres
Discovered
July 16, 2003
Contained
July 17, 2003
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 1,139 acres. Point of origin as reported, 35.006, -114.661.

The record

Reported final size
2,180 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
1,139 acres
Discovered
July 16, 2003, 7:15 p.m. local time
Contained
July 17, 2003, 7:00 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
California
Land ownership at origin
Fish and Wildlife Service
Reporting unit
Lake Havasu Refuges Complex
Agency
Fish and Wildlife Service
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
CA3500511465220030716
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
FWS-2003AZHVRB175

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 California in 200312

FireAcresStartCause
Cedar Fire280,059Oct 25, 2003Human
Simi Fire108,204Oct 25, 2003
Old Fire91,281Oct 25, 2003Human
Piru Fire63,720Oct 23, 2003Human
Grand Prix Fire59,788Oct 21, 2003Human
Paradise Fire56,427Oct 26, 2003Human
Mine/Otay Fire47,921Oct 26, 2003Human
Annie Fire30,170Aug 25, 2003Natural
Coyote Fire19,576Jul 16, 2003Natural
Honeydew Fire13,846Sep 3, 2003Natural
Local Fire12,000Feb 23, 2003Human
Canoe Fire11,036Sep 3, 2003Natural

Every fire of 2003 California 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.