Wildfires of 2005

Sheep Fire

2005MontanaWildfire

The Sheep Fire burned 6,778 acres in Montana, in 2005. It was discovered on September 9, 2005, and contained on September 16, 2005. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
6,778 acres
Discovered
September 9, 2005
Contained
September 16, 2005
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 6,882 acres. Point of origin as reported, 47.656, -107.474.

The record

Reported final size
6,778 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
6,882 acres
Discovered
September 9, 2005, 7:00 p.m. local time
Contained
September 16, 2005, 6:30 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Montana
Land ownership at origin
Fish and Wildlife Service
Reporting unit
Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
Agency
Fish and Wildlife Service
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
MT4768410750520050909
MTBS assessment
Extended
Fire occurrence record
FWS-2005MTCMRB6HU

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 200512

FireAcresStartCause
Signal Rock Fire13,327Aug 9, 2005Natural
I-90 Complex (Tarkio) Fire9,082Aug 4, 2005Human
Seepay 2 Fire8,500Aug 28, 2005Human
Rockin Fire6,869Aug 3, 2005Natural
Heartland Fire6,689Sep 9, 2005Natural
Big Horn Fire5,800Jul 16, 2005Natural
Hazard Lake Wfu Fire5,731Aug 22, 2005Natural
Kelly Point Fire3,875Aug 6, 2005Human
Cottonwood Creek Fire3,485Aug 26, 2005Natural
Prospect Fire3,200Aug 6, 2005Natural
Erickson Spring Fire2,700Aug 22, 2005Natural
Baker Fire2,333Jul 25, 2005Human

Every fire of 2005 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.