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Bulkley-Nechako C fire, 5 June 2021 Bulkley-Nechako C

Out · last detection 13 Aug 2021, 21:16 UTC

The fire started on 5 June 2021 in Bulkley-Nechako C, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 71 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 13,990 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 68th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 60 in Canada in 2021, of 304.

Burnt area
13,990ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
71days
5 Jun 2021 – 14 Aug 2021
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
5 Jun
2021
Heat detections
2,035
in a single hotspot: 406 MW
Danger at start
7
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
2.2GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 5 Jun14 Aug
13 Aug 2021

How it evolved, day by day

3 Jul 2021 · 8 MW · 8 5 Jul 2021 · 816 MW · 34 6 Jul 2021 · 388 MW · 37 7 Jul 2021 · 11,537 MW · 280 8 Jul 2021 · 3,343 MW · 349 9 Jul 2021 · 3,104 MW · 263 10 Jul 2021 · 110 MW · 13 11 Jul 2021 · 507 MW · 49 12 Jul 2021 · 850 MW · 79 13 Jul 2021 · 1,647 MW · 122 14 Jul 2021 · 4,728 MW · 337 15 Jul 2021 · 13,767 MW · 404 1 Aug 2021 · 39 MW · 19 2 Aug 2021 · 5 MW · 1 3 Aug 2021 · 12 MW · 9 4 Aug 2021 · 13 MW · 3 5 Aug 2021 · 1 MW · 1 12 Aug 2021 · 46 MW · 7 13 Aug 2021 · 230 MW · 20
3 Jul 8 Jul 12 Jul 15 Jul 5 Aug

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

The weather it burned in

36°high
70km/h · peak gust
18%lowest humidity

It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 9.2 mm on 15 Aug.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 8.8% of the area of London (140 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each census subdivision

  1. Bulkley-Nechako C where it started
    14,213 ha reached on 3 Jul
    0.5 %

Burnt area inside each census subdivision, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2020
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2020, satellite-based estimate).

This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)
5 Jun 12.3 °C 44 % 42 km/h 0.2 mm Low 7
6 Jun 13.1 °C 40 % 27 km/h 4.1 mm Low 6
7 Jun 14.1 °C 49 % 46 km/h 1.6 mm Very low 0
8 Jun 15.9 °C 33 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
9 Jun 14.9 °C 42 % 31 km/h 5.4 mm Very low 5
10 Jun 10.6 °C 68 % 38 km/h 8.7 mm Very low 0
11 Jun 15.6 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.4 mm Very low 0
12 Jun 15.2 °C 43 % 39 km/h 1.9 mm Very low 2
13 Jun 16.8 °C 42 % 46 km/h 1.4 mm Very low 1
14 Jun 16.4 °C 50 % 36 km/h 5.9 mm Very low 0
15 Jun 13.1 °C 62 % 44 km/h 6.6 mm Very low 0
16 Jun 15.7 °C 41 % 63 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
17 Jun 17.9 °C 39 % 26 km/h 1.2 mm Very low 1
18 Jun 16.4 °C 45 % 43 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 3
19 Jun 19.5 °C 38 % 36 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 1
20 Jun 24.9 °C 25 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
21 Jun 25.0 °C 32 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
22 Jun 21.5 °C 28 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
23 Jun 18.5 °C 50 % 25 km/h 1.7 mm Low 11
24 Jun 18.7 °C 52 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
25 Jun 27.6 °C 40 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
26 Jun 31.4 °C 27 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
27 Jun 34.7 °C 25 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
28 Jun 35.2 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.5 mm High 25
29 Jun 35.6 °C 18 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
30 Jun 29.1 °C 38 % 37 km/h 0.5 mm High 24
1 Jul 24.7 °C 32 % 31 km/h 5.7 mm Low 6
2 Jul 22.7 °C 30 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
3 Jul 19.0 °C 54 % 33 km/h 0.1 mm Low 10
4 Jul 21.6 °C 42 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
5 Jul 24.1 °C 28 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
6 Jul 27.8 °C 26 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
7 Jul 28.3 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
8 Jul 27.4 °C 31 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
9 Jul 26.7 °C 29 % 32 km/h 0.5 mm High 26
10 Jul 21.1 °C 50 % 50 km/h 5.8 mm Very low 3
11 Jul 22.8 °C 32 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
12 Jul 25.5 °C 27 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
13 Jul 27.8 °C 25 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
14 Jul 22.8 °C 31 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
15 Jul 21.4 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
16 Jul 15.2 °C 65 % 36 km/h 8.1 mm Low 7
17 Jul 11.4 °C 76 % 25 km/h 4.3 mm Very low 0
18 Jul 17.1 °C 52 % 22 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 1
19 Jul 18.9 °C 54 % 23 km/h 5.4 mm Very low 1
20 Jul 18.2 °C 59 % 25 km/h 13.0 mm Very low 0
21 Jul 13.9 °C 69 % 38 km/h 7.4 mm Very low 0
22 Jul 13.0 °C 63 % 70 km/h 3.6 mm Very low 0
23 Jul 15.3 °C 50 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
24 Jul 18.2 °C 52 % 43 km/h 5.4 mm Very low 2
25 Jul 19.1 °C 42 % 34 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 1
26 Jul 17.3 °C 57 % 38 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 1
27 Jul 17.8 °C 41 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
28 Jul 19.4 °C 48 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
29 Jul 22.9 °C 39 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
30 Jul 26.9 °C 34 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
31 Jul 28.2 °C 31 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
1 Aug 24.9 °C 50 % 28 km/h 3.9 mm Moderate 14
2 Aug 22.1 °C 70 % 36 km/h 13.9 mm Very low 0
3 Aug 25.5 °C 34 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
4 Aug 25.4 °C 44 % 39 km/h 0.7 mm Low 7
5 Aug 19.7 °C 57 % 43 km/h 4.0 mm Very low 4
6 Aug 17.1 °C 49 % 59 km/h 0.8 mm Very low 2
7 Aug 12.9 °C 71 % 42 km/h 7.8 mm Very low 0
8 Aug 21.3 °C 48 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 0
9 Aug 17.5 °C 48 % 68 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
10 Aug 15.4 °C 63 % 65 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
11 Aug 19.9 °C 39 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
12 Aug 25.6 °C 40 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
13 Aug 27.0 °C 35 % 56 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 16
14 Aug 21.7 °C 36 % 51 km/h 3.7 mm Very low 1
15 Aug after 18.9 °C 36 % 89 km/h 9.2 mm Very low 1

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 7.2, a minimum humidity of 44% and 2 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 17.

FWI at the start 7.2
Minimum humidity 44 %
Days without rain 2
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Bulkley-Nechako C fire, July 2018
2,251 ha 29 days FWI 7.1 Min. humidity 44 % 32 km away, in 2018

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.4 mm on 29 Aug.

What happened to them

68 days
median duration
4,157 ha
median area
24 %
went past 10,000 ha
3.5 mm
rain at the end (median; 17 of 17 had it)

It was 3.4 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 71 days, against 68 days.

Only 3 of its 17 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 3.5 mm.

This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it

How it ended

9.2 mmfirst rain
15 Augthe day after it ended
70km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 14 Aug, and on 15 Aug 9.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 17 of 17, with a median of 3.5 mm.

Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

How a twin is chosen

  • Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
  • Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
  • Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
  • Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
  • They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 29 May 2021
After · 21 Aug 2021

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

Detections table · 2,035Every 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 Canada

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Bulkley-Nechako C fire last?
It burned between 5 June 2021 and 14 August 2021: 71 days, according to the dates recorded by Canada’s CWFIS and the heat detections seen by satellite.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 13,990 hectares (139.9 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Bulkley-Nechako C (14,213 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.6 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 70 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 30, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of Canada’s CWFIS (NBAC, Natural Resources Canada) or, for the current season and until NBAC publishes it, the one rebuilt by GWIS (Copernicus); from NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots; and from the administrative boundaries of Canada. It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 17. Their median duration was 68 days and their median area 4,157 ha; 24 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 3 of its 17 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 3.5 mm.

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: 911 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

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 911.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 2,035 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
  • Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2020, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology

Where this data comes from

The perimeter is official: it comes from the National Burned Area Composite (NBAC) of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS), Natural Resources Canada, which maps it on satellite imagery and publishes it under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Until NBAC publishes the current season, this year’s fires carry the perimeter rebuilt from heat detections by GWIS (Copernicus, CC BY 4.0), which is approximate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Census subdivision boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). The area per census subdivision is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.