This study explored the interactions of the 2011 Lion Fire with other recent wildfires using field data and remote sensing data focusing on fire effects and impacts to resources. The Lion Fire was ignited by lightning on July 8, 2011 and reached a final size of 20,674 acres. The fire burned in mixed conifer timber and brush fuels in the Sequoia National Forest, including parts of the Golden Trout Wilderness and the Sequoia National Park. The Lion Fire was managed for multiple objectives, one of those being resource benefit. Impacts associated with managing the fire to achieve resource benefits included air quality degradation and trail closures. Burning Indices and Energy Release Components were above the 50th percentile during mid-late July when the Lion Fire experienced the most growth. The Lion Fire overlapped two recent wildfire areas and was near or adjacent to three more recent fires. These recent fires affected the burning characteristics of the Lion Fire and aided fire managers in the ultimate control of the fire on November 8, 2011.

Only two recent fires were measurably overlapped by the Lion Fire, the 2006 Tamarack and the 2001 White Fires. The Lion Fire stopped at the perimeter of two other recent fires, the 2009 Shotgun and the 2006 Maggie Fires. The 2003 Cooney Fire, nearly adjacent to the east side of the Lion Fire, did not reburn. If embers from the Lion Fire did land in the Cooney Fire area, spot fires did not noticeably develop. The documented wildfire interactions lead to one overriding conclusion: recent fires not only affected the extent and effects of the Lion Fire, but also aided fire managers to corral the Lion Fire. Additionally, the fuel and ecological conditions created by the Lion Fire are an incremental step toward landscape level resiliency.