Magpie Fire Update

Yellowstone's Magpie Fire is on the move. Latest word from the park's fire observers is that the blaze now covers about 550 acres, up roughly 200 acres from yesterday morning's reported size.
Located about seven miles east of Madison Junction, the Magpie Fire is an oblong blob about 3 miles long. Although the fire is burning in stands of mature lodgepole pine, it is surrounded by an area that burned in 1988 as part of the massive North Fork Fire complex.
You can get a pretty good idea of the size of the Magpie Fire in relation to the 1988 fires by visiting this site. While the resolution isn't perfect, just left of center you can see the red-colored Magpie perimeter surrounded by the tan-colored area burned by the North Fork Fire.
For the time being the Magpie Fire is being allowed to burn as a management tool for the health of Yellowstone's forests.