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Barkly fire, 4 September 2023 Barkly

Out · last detection 21 Oct 2023, 15:30 UTC

The fire started on 4 September 2023 in Barkly, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 47 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 793,890 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the largest fire in Northern Territory since 2016 (of 3493 with a page). The largest in Australia in 2023, of 1235.

Burnt area
793,890ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
47days
4 Sept 2023 – 20 Oct 2023
Municipalities hit
1
local government areas
Started on
4 Sept
2023
Heat detections
35,677
in a single hotspot: 762 MW
Danger at start
55
Extreme · FWI index
Energy released
554.3GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

21 Oct 2023
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 4 Sept20 Oct

How it evolved, day by day

456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930123456789101112131415161718192021

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

39°high
61km/h · peak gust
4%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

32% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,038 ha in 2016, 251,651 ha in 2017, 1,748 ha in 2019, 1,608 ha in 2021.

What happened to each town

  1. Barkly where it started
    802,009 ha reached on 3 Sept
    2.5 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
4 Sept 33.7 °C 14 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
5 Sept 33.1 °C 16 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
6 Sept 33.2 °C 18 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
7 Sept 34.0 °C 17 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
8 Sept 28.1 °C 14 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
9 Sept 30.6 °C 10 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
10 Sept 31.2 °C 8 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
11 Sept 30.2 °C 8 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
12 Sept 30.5 °C 11 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
13 Sept 30.8 °C 13 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
14 Sept 31.3 °C 13 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
15 Sept 32.4 °C 10 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
16 Sept 33.2 °C 10 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
17 Sept 33.8 °C 11 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
18 Sept 32.6 °C 11 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
19 Sept 34.0 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
20 Sept 35.6 °C 14 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
21 Sept 36.5 °C 9 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
22 Sept 34.5 °C 11 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
23 Sept 33.4 °C 8 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
24 Sept 34.4 °C 8 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
25 Sept 35.1 °C 13 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
26 Sept 34.4 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
27 Sept 36.4 °C 11 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
28 Sept 36.3 °C 11 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
29 Sept 36.3 °C 11 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
30 Sept 38.0 °C 7 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
1 Oct 37.0 °C 14 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
2 Oct 37.5 °C 15 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
3 Oct 38.8 °C 14 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
4 Oct 31.8 °C 15 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 85
5 Oct 30.0 °C 12 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
6 Oct 31.0 °C 10 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
7 Oct 31.7 °C 9 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
8 Oct 33.9 °C 12 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
9 Oct 34.1 °C 19 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
10 Oct 34.1 °C 9 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
11 Oct 35.7 °C 12 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
12 Oct 37.4 °C 12 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
13 Oct 35.4 °C 11 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 84
14 Oct 32.3 °C 6 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 81
15 Oct 33.6 °C 5 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
16 Oct 34.7 °C 8 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 86
17 Oct 33.6 °C 10 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 82
18 Oct 34.4 °C 6 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
19 Oct 36.2 °C 4 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
20 Oct 37.4 °C 4 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
21 Oct after 37.6 °C 5 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
22 Oct after 37.1 °C 8 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
23 Oct after 38.7 °C 7 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
24 Oct after 40.2 °C 8 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
25 Oct after 38.0 °C 10 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 91
26 Oct after 32.2 °C 7 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 99
27 Oct after 32.2 °C 4 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 92
28 Oct after 34.5 °C 4 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
29 Oct after 37.2 °C 5 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
30 Oct after 39.2 °C 7 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 28 Aug 2023
After · 27 Oct 2023

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 3 September 2023 the air beside the fire reached 238 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 100: 6.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak238 µg/m³
Days over the guideline11 days
PM10339 µg/m³
Optical depth1.93
234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829301234567891011121314151617181920212223
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 35,677Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Australia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Barkly fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 4 September 2023 and 20 October 2023: 47 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 793,890 hectares (7,938.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Barkly (802,009 ha, 2.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.8 °C, humidity dropped to 4 % and gusts hit 61 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 86, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Australia (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 000

Satellite cross-check

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 000.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.