Technically, the "Tillamook
Burn" describes
the forest fire of 1933 which ravaged nearly 240,000 acres of prime
forest
land, most of it in Tillamook County. This fire killed almost 12
billion
board feet of timber, enough lumber to build more than a million
five-room
houses.
Subsequent forest fires in 1939 and 1945 have also
been included in the term "Tillamook Burn" although, combined, these
fires consumed only one-tenth the timber killed in the 1933 fire.
A fourth fire, in 1951, spread over some 32,000
acres, but destroyed only 15 million board feet of logs and
snags.
The following is a summary of
each of the fires in the area commonly referred to as the "Tillamook
Burn":
1933 Fire:
Perimeter area of
fire
261,222 acres
Unburned area within
perimeter
21,527 acres
Burned
area
239,695 acres
Timber
killed
11,828,712,000 board feet
(a board foot measures 12" x 12" x 1")
1939 Fire:
Perimeter area of
fire
209,690 acres
Unburned area within
perimeter
19,030 acres
Burned
area
189,660 acres
Timber
killed
834,220,000 board feet
Previously burned by other
fires
15,527 acres
1945 Fire:
Perimeter area of
fire
182,370 acres
Unburned area within
perimeter
2,240 acres
Burned
area
180,130 acres
Timber
killed
439,385,000 board feet
Previously burned by other
fires
10,899 acres
1951 Fire:
Perimeter and burned
area
32,700 acres
The total area of the 1951 fire was burned by the
1933 and 1939 fires but forestry sources report that some 30 million
board feet of felled and bucked snags were burned with less than half
destroyed.
Four Fires Combined:
Perimeter area of
fire
360,882 acres
Unburned area within
perimeter
5,946 acres
Burned
area
354,936 acres
Timber
killed
13,102,917,000 board feet
Footnote: 7.5 billion board
feet of burned logs were salvaged between 1934 and 1955 out of the 13.1
billion board feet killed. Source of Data: Oregon
Department of Forestry
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