West Fork Fire
The West Fork Fire burned 4,980 acres in Colfax County, New Mexico, in 2008. It was discovered on June 17, 2008, and contained on June 30, 2008. MTBS dates its ignition to June 19, 2008. The cause was recorded as natural.
- Size
- 4,980 acres
- Discovered
- June 17, 2008
- Contained
- June 30, 2008
- Cause
- Natural
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 5,433 acres. Point of origin as reported, 36.870, -104.851.
The record
- Reported final size
- 4,980 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 5,433 acres
- Discovered
- June 17, 2008, 2:00 p.m. local time
- Ignition (MTBS)
- June 19, 2008
- Contained
- June 30, 2008, 8:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Natural
- State
- New Mexico
- County
- Colfax County
- Land ownership at origin
- State
- Reporting unit
- Cimarron District
- Agency
- State or local agency
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- NM3686510484320080619
- MTBS assessment
- Extended
- Fire occurrence record
- ICS209_2008_NM-N2S-052
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 New Mexico in 200812
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stiles Complex | 67,008 | Mar 14, 2008 | Human |
| Rocky Fire | 49,092 | Jun 18, 2008 | Natural |
| Bonney Fire | 25,329 | Jun 18, 2008 | Natural |
| Four Lakes Fire | 23,000 | Apr 30, 2008 | |
| Unnamed Fire | 16,837 | Apr 5, 2008 | Human |
| Trigo Fire | 13,709 | Apr 15, 2008 | Human |
| Cholla Fire | 12,624 | Apr 7, 2008 | Human |
| Fire | 10,500 | Feb 25, 2008 | |
| Elliott Fire | 9,185 | Dec 14, 2008 | Human |
| SRR13 Fire | 7,116 | Jan 15, 2008 | |
| Eldridge Fire | 5,800 | Jun 26, 2008 | Natural |
| Jal Fire | 5,760 | Feb 25, 2008 |
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.