Wells Fire
The Wells Fire burned 1,784 acres in California, in 2011. It was discovered on August 27, 2011, and contained on August 30, 2011. MTBS dates its ignition to August 28, 2011. The cause was recorded as natural.
- Size
- 1,784 acres
- Discovered
- August 27, 2011
- Contained
- August 30, 2011
- Cause
- Natural
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 1,840 acres. Point of origin as reported, 35.364, -115.774.
The record
- Reported final size
- 1,784 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 1,840 acres
- Area inside the final perimeter
- 1,708 acres
- Discovered
- August 27, 2011, 5:15 p.m. local time
- Ignition (MTBS)
- August 28, 2011
- Contained
- August 30, 2011, 6:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Natural
- State
- California
- Land ownership at origin
- National Park Service
- Reporting unit
- Mojave National Preserve
- Agency
- Forest Service
- Unit
- CAMNP
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- Unique fire identifier
- 2011-CAMNP-000012
- MTBS fire identifier
- CA3536411577420110828
- MTBS assessment
- Initial
- Fire occurrence record
- W-626790
- Perimeter records
- 2 on file for this fire; the largest is shown
- Note on the perimeter
- Perimeter date 8/31, may not be final fire size
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 California in 201112
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comanche Fire | 25,577 | Sep 10, 2011 | Natural |
| Breckenridge Complex | 25,213 | Sep 10, 2011 | Natural |
| Lion Fire | 20,500 | Jul 8, 2011 | Natural |
| Eagle Fire | 14,100 | Jul 21, 2011 | Human |
| Reed Fire | 5,900 | ||
| John Fire | 5,353 | Sep 13, 2011 | Human |
| Motor Fire | 5,230 | Aug 25, 2011 | Human |
| Antelope Fire | 5,196 | Jun 19, 2011 | Human |
| Unnamed Fire | 5,050 | Sep 23, 2011 | |
| North Fire | 3,439 | ||
| Quinn Fire | 3,147 | Jun 21, 2011 | |
| Canyon Fire | 3,128 | Sep 4, 2011 | Human |
Nearby
Sources
Perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center’s Interagency Fire Perimeter History, compiled from the Forest Service, BLM, BIA, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, the Alaska Interagency Fire Center and CAL FIRE. 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.