Tower Fire
The Tower Fire burned 4,723 acres in South Dakota, in 2012. It was discovered on February 25, 2012, and contained on February 27, 2012. The cause was recorded as debris and open burning.
- Size
- 4,723 acres
- Discovered
- February 25, 2012
- Contained
- February 27, 2012
- Cause
- Human
Map
The burned area boundary MTBS mapped from Landsat imagery, 4,599 acres. Point of origin as reported, 43.578, -100.846.
The record
- Reported final size
- 4,723 acres
- Burned area mapped by MTBS
- 4,599 acres
- Discovered
- February 25, 2012, 12:33 p.m. local time
- Contained
- February 27, 2012, 5:00 p.m. local time
- Cause
- Human, Debris and open burning
- State
- South Dakota
- Land ownership at origin
- Tribal
- Reporting unit
- Rosebud Agency
- Agency
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Incident type
- Wildfire
- MTBS fire identifier
- SD4357810084420120225
- MTBS assessment
- Initial (SS)
- Fire occurrence record
- W-633461
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
| Fire | Acres | Start | Cause |
|---|---|---|---|
| Longhorn Complex | 43,639 | Jul 27, 2012 | Natural |
| Crookston Fire | 14,453 | Oct 17, 2012 | Human |
| Myrtle Fire | 9,886 | Jul 19, 2012 | Human |
| Hay Canyon Fire | 9,882 | Apr 24, 2012 | Natural |
| White Draw Fire | 9,000 | Jun 29, 2012 | Human |
| Coal Canyon Fire | 5,177 | ||
| Fire | 2,465 | Sep 19, 2012 | Human |
| South Hand Fire | 2,300 | Nov 20, 2012 | Human |
| 221st Fire | 1,600 | Aug 30, 2012 | Human |
| T-34 Fire | 1,600 | Jul 19, 2012 | Human |
| Donovan Fire | 1,500 | Jul 19, 2012 | Natural |
| Bear Butte Farms Fire | 1,380 | May 26, 2012 | Natural |
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.