Some grasses and flowers, such as fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) and dragon’s head (Dracocephalum parviflora), thrived only in the first years after the fires, while others such as pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens) and showy aster (Aster conspicuus), have slowly but steadily increased.

On This Page Navigation On This Page. In 1988, fires burned a mosaic covering 1.4 million acres in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem as a result of extremely warm, dry, and windy weather. In the first years after a major fire, new vistas appear while the lush growth of new, young trees emerges from the burned ground.

Not long after the fires ended, plant and tree species quickly reestablished themselves, and native plant regeneration has been highly successful. The Yellowstone fires of 1988 were unprecedented in the history of the National Park Service, and led to many questions about existing fire management policies.

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On June 30, 1988, lightning struck a tree in the Crown Butte region of Yellowstone National Park, in the park’s far northwest corner near where the borders of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming meet. The lightning bolt started a small forest fire, which became known as the Fan Fire.

Twenty years ago, in the summer of 1988, Yellowstone caught fire. The fires, which began in June, continued to burn until November, when winter snows extinguished the last blazes. Over the course of that summer and fall, more than 25,000 firefighters were brought in from around the country.

Ladder Fuels. Fuel that can carry a fire burning in low-growing vegetation to taller vegetation is called ladder fuel. Examples of ladder fuels include low-lying tree branches and shrubs and trees under the canopy of a large tree.

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As forest fuels accumulate, the forest structure changes, leading to greater continuity of fuels between the ground surface and the upper tree canopies. This altered structure provides “ladders” for wildfire to climb up into the tree tops.

Surface fires—spread with a flaming front and burn leaf litter, fallen branches, and other fuels located at ground level. Crown fires, the most intense type of fire and often the most difficult to contain, need strong winds, steep slopes, and a heavy fuel load to continue burning.

Increase spacing between tree crowns When tree crowns are farther apart, it is harder for fire to spread from one crown to another, even when the wind is blowing. Thinning reduces crown density. Reducing the slash generated from thinning will diminish the potential for a high-intensity surface fire.

Fire officials monitor a growing fire near Norris on Aug. 20, 1988. The day was dubbed Black Saturday as 165,000 acres were burned in a single day.