Playing with fire

Reflections from 2021 Fire Season

In June 1988, lightning struck a tree in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park starting the Fan Fire. By July 2, this fire had grown to a blaze of 1,800 acres. This was the first of the 1988 Yellowstone fires to start within the park’s boundaries. 

By July 15, wildfires had burned 17,000 acres inside Yellowstone. The worst damage would happen in September. In total, the fires affected almost 800,000 acres or 36% of Yellowstone National Park. There were numerous large fires — like the North Fork Fire which burned 410,000 acres — on lands inside and adjacent to National Park land.