Missouri Breaks Complex
The Missouri Breaks Complex burned 125,900 acres in Garfield County, Montana, in 2003. It was discovered on July 19, 2003, and contained on July 27, 2003. The cause was recorded as natural.
- Size
- 125,900 acres
- Discovered
- July 19, 2003
- Contained
- July 27, 2003
- Cause
- Natural
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 137,971 acres. Point of origin as reported, 47.599, -107.512.
The record
- Reported final size
- 125,900 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 137,971 acres
- Discovered
- July 19, 2003, 6:00 p.m. local time
- Contained
- July 27, 2003, 5:50 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Natural
- State
- Montana
- County
- Garfield County
- Land ownership at origin
- Bureau of Land Management
- Reporting unit
- Miles City Field Office
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Part of
- Missouri Breaks Complex
- Other fire reports inside the burned area
- Big Coulee, Ghost Coulee
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- MT4751410764220030719
- MTBS assessment
- Initial
- Fire occurrence record
- W-120095
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
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germaine Fire | 66,497 | ||
| Robert Fire | 57,273 | Jul 23, 2003 | Human |
| Wedge Canyon Fire | 50,981 | Jul 18, 2003 | Natural |
| Lincoln Complex (Snowbank) Fire | 37,405 | Aug 13, 2003 | Natural |
| Hobble Fire | 36,180 | Aug 8, 2003 | Natural |
| Indian Fire | 33,955 | ||
| Fish Creek Complex (Thompson Creek) Fire | 33,948 | Aug 10, 2003 | Natural |
| Big Coulee Fire | 29,492 | ||
| Cooney Ridge Fire | 25,680 | Aug 8, 2003 | Natural |
| Littlehawk Fire | 25,490 | Aug 12, 2003 | Natural |
| Mineral-Primm (Mineral and Primm) Fire | 25,202 | Aug 9, 2003 | Natural |
| Rampage Complex (Double Mountain 2) Fire | 21,000 | Aug 19, 2003 | Natural |
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.