Wildfire case study: Butte City Fire, southeastern Idaho, July 1, 1994

Bret W. Butler; Timothy D. Reynolds

doi:10.2737/INT-GTR-351

Treesearch

Wildfire case study: Butte City Fire, southeastern Idaho, July 1, 1994

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Bret W. Butler, Timothy D. Reynolds

Year:

1997

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2737/INT-GTR-351

Source:

Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-351. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 15 p.

Download (PDF 935 KB)

Download (PDF 935 KB): https://research.fs.usda.gov/download/treesearch/34765.pdf

Abstract

The Butte City Fire occurred on July 1, 1994, west of Idaho Falls, ID. Ignited from a burning flat tire, the blaze was driven by high winds that caused it to cover over 20,500 acres in just over 6.5 hours. Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) is the principal shrub species of this high desert rangeland. With the absence of vegetation after the fire, erosion increased tremendously. Because the fire occurred on the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, researchers were able to gather weather information from remote meteorological stations positioned on and around the site.

Keywords

wildland fires, rangeland fires, fire behavior, fire growth, fire effects

Citation

Butler, Bret W.; Reynolds, Timothy D. 1997. Wildfire case study: Butte City Fire, southeastern Idaho, July 1, 1994. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-GTR-351. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. 15 p.