Wildfires of 2012

Longhorn Complex

2012South DakotaWildfire

The Longhorn Complex burned 43,639 acres in South Dakota, in 2012. It was discovered on July 27, 2012, and contained on July 28, 2012. MTBS dates its ignition to July 19, 2012. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
43,639 acres
Discovered
July 27, 2012
Contained
July 28, 2012
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 41,436 acres. Point of origin as reported, 43.201, -100.973.

The record

Reported final size
43,639 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
41,436 acres
Discovered
July 27, 2012, 10:02 p.m. local time
Ignition (MTBS)
July 19, 2012
Contained
July 28, 2012, 12:02 a.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
South Dakota
Land ownership at origin
Tribal
Reporting unit
Rosebud Agency
Agency
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Part of
Longhorn Complex
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
SD4309610116620120719
MTBS assessment
Initial (SS)
Fire occurrence record
W-647216

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 South Dakota in 201212

FireAcresStartCause
Crookston Fire14,453Oct 17, 2012Human
Myrtle Fire9,886Jul 19, 2012Human
Hay Canyon Fire9,882Apr 24, 2012Natural
White Draw Fire9,000Jun 29, 2012Human
Coal Canyon Fire5,177
Tower Fire4,723Feb 25, 2012Human
Fire2,465Sep 19, 2012Human
South Hand Fire2,300Nov 20, 2012Human
221st Fire1,600Aug 30, 2012Human
T-34 Fire1,600Jul 19, 2012Human
Donovan Fire1,500Jul 19, 2012Natural
Bear Butte Farms Fire1,380May 26, 2012Natural

Every fire of 2012 South Dakota 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.