Posted by Ranger Janet (165.83.6.33) on September 12, 2002 at 14:49:12:
In Reply to: science posted by alex nilson and kyle britt on September 12, 2002 at 14:09:27:
: what was the worst fire that you ever had?
Greeting Alex and Kyle, Thanks for your question.
Because there are many ecological benefits associated with fire, we generally don't use negative terms, like "worst" to describe the "biggest" fire. And because recorded history just goes back so far, I don't know which fire is the largest. Prior to 1988, the largest natural fire in the park's written history was in 1931 at Hear Lake where about 18,000 acres burned. Between 1972 (the year of the first fire management plan) and 1988, the largest natural fire burned about 7,400 acres.
In recorded history, 1988 was the year in which the most acreage burned in Yellowstone. There were 9 fires caused by humans and 42 by lightning. Together they burned 793,880 acres. $120 million was spent on fighting the fires. So you can say that the Yellowstone Fires of 1988 were the most financially draining in the park's history.