Lateral West Fire
The Lateral West Fire burned 6,574 acres in Virginia, in 2011. It was discovered on August 4, 2011, and contained on October 14, 2011. The cause was recorded as natural.
- Size
- 6,574 acres
- Discovered
- August 4, 2011
- Contained
- October 14, 2011
- Cause
- Natural
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 6,185 acres. Point of origin as reported, 36.578, -76.501.
The record
- Reported final size
- 6,574 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 6,185 acres
- Discovered
- August 4, 2011, 7:00 p.m. local time
- Contained
- October 14, 2011, 5:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Natural
- State
- Virginia
- Land ownership at origin
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Reporting unit
- Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
- Agency
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- VA3657807650120110804
- MTBS assessment
- Initial (SS)
- Fire occurrence record
- FWS-2011VAGDRF9FY
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 Virginia in 20113
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley Fire | 2,564 | Feb 19, 2011 | Human |
| Smith Run Fire | 1,989 | Feb 19, 2011 | Human |
| Coffman/Chestnut Ridge Fire | 914 | Feb 19, 2011 | Human |
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.