Wildfires of 2012

Sarpy Hills Complex

2012MontanaWildfire

The Sarpy Hills Complex burned 82,127 acres in Montana, in 2012. It was discovered on August 1, 2012, and contained on August 3, 2012. MTBS dates its ignition to July 31, 2012. The cause was recorded as natural.

Size
82,127 acres
Discovered
August 1, 2012
Contained
August 3, 2012
Cause
Natural

Map

The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 83,940 acres. Point of origin as reported, 45.746, -107.168.

The record

Reported final size
82,127 acres
Burned area mapped by MTBS
83,940 acres
Discovered
August 1, 2012, 7:10 a.m. local time
Ignition (MTBS)
July 31, 2012
Contained
August 3, 2012, 9:04 p.m. local time
Cause
Natural
State
Montana
Land ownership at origin
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Reporting unit
Crow Agency
Agency
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Part of
Sarpy Hills Complex
Other fire reports inside the burned area
Dawes Ck, East Fork, West Tullock Creek, Castle Rock 2, Little Dry Creek, South Tullock Creek
Incident type
Wildfire
MTBS fire identifier
MT4574610716620120731
MTBS assessment
Initial
Fire occurrence record
W-644616

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

FireAcresStartCause
Ash Creek Fire249,562Jun 25, 2012Natural
Chalky Fire152,261Aug 2, 2012Natural
Taylor Creek Fire62,111Jul 3, 2012Natural
Delphia Fire40,085Aug 24, 2012Natural
Welder Fire33,318Sep 14, 2012Human
Dahl Fire22,045Jun 26, 2012Natural
Dutch Fire19,247Sep 10, 2012Natural
Elbow Pass Complex17,319Jul 12, 2012Natural
Bear Trap 2 Fire15,341Jun 25, 2012Human
Wolf Creek Fire12,160Jul 24, 2012Natural
Wye Fire12,000Jan 4, 2012Human
Ester Lake Fire10,924Aug 24, 2012Human

Every fire of 2012 Montana 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.