Use relatable units when reporting numbers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 13, 2024 I blogged about Chopping a number down to size by using the right unit conversion. In that post I noted that the federal government web site reports wildfires in units of acres. That’s hard to grasp if the fire covers thousands of them. There are 640 acres to a square mile, so sizes for larger fires instead should be shown in square miles, and not acres.

 

On July 19, 2025 there is an article by Nicole Blanchard at the Idaho Statesman titled Car on fire sparks 8,000-acre wildfire along I-84 near Boise on Saturday. A bit later that day there is another article by Barclay Idsal and Allie Triepke at IdahoNews6 titled 8,902 acre wildfire ongoing southeast of Boise leads to low visibility along I-84. 8902 acres converts to 13.91 square miles, or a square with 3.73 miles on a side (as is shown above).

 

That MM65 I-84 Fire is just east of the Blacks Creek Road exit (Exit 64) for I-84. If I plan to go east on I-84, then I commonly avoid east Boise traffic by going south on the ironically-named Pleasant Valley Road past the state prisons, and then east on Kuna Mora Road to reach Exit 64.