Wildfires of 2008

Prairie Fire

2008Okeechobee County, FloridaWildfire

The Prairie Fire burned 4,018 acres in Okeechobee County, Florida, in 2008. It was discovered on February 20, 2008, and contained on February 20, 2008. The cause was recorded as debris and open burning.

Size
4,018 acres
Discovered
February 20, 2008
Contained
February 20, 2008
Cause
Human

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 1,435 acres. Point of origin as reported, 27.552, -80.981.

The record

Reported final size
4,018 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
1,435 acres
Discovered
February 20, 2008, 2:30 p.m. local time
Contained
February 20, 2008, 7:29 p.m. local time
Cause
Human, Debris and open burning
State
Florida
County
Okeechobee County
Land ownership at origin
State
Reporting unit
Florida Forest Service
Agency
State or local agency
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
FL2754608100020080220
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
SFO-2008FLFLS2008160143
Note on the perimeter
RdNBR offset was good (-44). Improved water mask applied to fire mapping to minimize the effects of surface/near surface hydrology effects on severity assessment. No other significant changes made from the original version.

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 Florida in 200812

FireAcresStartCause
Mustang Corner Fire39,465May 14, 2008Human
Myakka Cut Fire38,000May 2, 2008Human
Gum Bay Fire10,458Feb 11, 2008Human
Unnamed Fire9,129Mar 21, 2008
Deep Lake Fire8,330Jun 10, 2008Natural
Unnamed Fire8,266Jan 25, 2008
San Filippo Fire6,981May 12, 2008Human
Unnamed Fire6,044Jan 25, 2008
Unnamed Fire5,603Mar 10, 2008
Unnamed Fire4,953Mar 17, 2008
Unnamed Fire4,479Mar 1, 2008
Unnamed Fire4,072Mar 17, 2008

Every fire of 2008 Florida 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.