Ester Lake Fire
The Ester Lake Fire burned 10,924 acres in Phillips County, Montana, in 2012. It was discovered on August 24, 2012, and contained on October 4, 2012. The cause was recorded as arson/incendiarism.
- Size
- 10,924 acres
- Discovered
- August 24, 2012
- Contained
- October 4, 2012
- Cause
- Human
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 10,905 acres. Point of origin as reported, 48.067, -108.267.
The record
- Reported final size
- 10,924 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 10,905 acres
- Area inside the final perimeter
- 10,925 acres
- Discovered
- August 24, 2012, 3:17 p.m. local time
- Contained
- October 4, 2012, 12:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Human, Arson/incendiarism
- State
- Montana
- County
- Phillips County
- Land ownership at origin
- Private
- Reporting unit
- Malta Field Office
- Agency
- Forest Service
- Unit
- MTNRC
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- MT4806710826720120824
- MTBS assessment
- Initial (SS)
- Fire occurrence record
- W-647911
- Perimeter records
- 2 on file for this fire; the largest is shown
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 201212
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash Creek Fire | 249,562 | Jun 25, 2012 | Natural |
| Chalky Fire | 152,261 | Aug 2, 2012 | Natural |
| Sarpy Hills Complex | 82,127 | Aug 1, 2012 | Natural |
| Taylor Creek Fire | 62,111 | Jul 3, 2012 | Natural |
| Delphia Fire | 40,085 | Aug 24, 2012 | Natural |
| Welder Fire | 33,318 | Sep 14, 2012 | Human |
| Dahl Fire | 22,045 | Jun 26, 2012 | Natural |
| Dutch Fire | 19,247 | Sep 10, 2012 | Natural |
| Elbow Pass Complex | 17,319 | Jul 12, 2012 | Natural |
| Bear Trap 2 Fire | 15,341 | Jun 25, 2012 | Human |
| Wolf Creek Fire | 12,160 | Jul 24, 2012 | Natural |
| Wye Fire | 12,000 | Jan 4, 2012 | 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.