Rim Fire Leaves Sierra 'Moonscape' For The Ages

See the latest USFS Rim Fire Incident Report.

We're getting a better idea of the real historic scope and damage of the Rim Fire that burned through the Sierra Foothills and Yosemite National Park.

The U.S. Forest Service says the fire burned 400 square miles, leaving what it calls a contiguous "moonscape" in the Sierra larger than anything seen in there centuries. The U.S.  Forest Service says the range of devastation from the fire is the largest seen in the area since the 14th Century.

Observers used satellite images to determine that dozens of "hot spots" burned inside the fire's footprint. Officials say an area within the fire's footprint is an area of 60 square miles that burned so intensely that everything within that perimeter likely is dead. 

In total, nearly 40 percent of the area inside the fire's boundary likely will look like a moonscape.

The fire started August 17 when a hunter's fire got out of control. It has burned 256,895 acres, and there are 1,406 personnel still working the incident.