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Bulkley-Nechako C fire, 7 July 2023 Bulkley-Nechako C

Out · last detection 23 Sept 2023, 10:30 UTC

The fire started on 7 July 2023 in Bulkley-Nechako C, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 79 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 6,384 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 129th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 229 in Canada in 2023, of 489.

Burnt area
6,384ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
79days
7 Jul 2023 – 23 Sept 2023
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
7 Jul
2023
Heat detections
1,719
in a single hotspot: 207 MW
Danger at start
17
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
325MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 7 Jul23 Sept
23 Sept 2023

How it evolved, day by day

9 Jul 2023 · 40 MW · 3 10 Jul 2023 · 38 MW · 21 11 Jul 2023 · 16 MW · 4 12 Jul 2023 · 1,075 MW · 72 13 Jul 2023 · 2,729 MW · 329 14 Jul 2023 · 924 MW · 245 15 Jul 2023 · 518 MW · 106 16 Jul 2023 · 430 MW · 174 17 Jul 2023 · 4 MW · 2 18 Jul 2023 · 188 MW · 21 19 Jul 2023 · 469 MW · 74 20 Jul 2023 · 1,468 MW · 79 21 Jul 2023 · 57 MW · 42 22 Jul 2023 · 1 MW · 1 4 Aug 2023 · 6 MW · 1 6 Aug 2023 · 4 MW · 2 17 Aug 2023 · 6 MW · 1 18 Aug 2023 · 7 MW · 2 22 Aug 2023 · 1 MW · 1 26 Aug 2023 · 113 MW · 8 27 Aug 2023 · 912 MW · 28 28 Aug 2023 · 758 MW · 86 29 Aug 2023 · 404 MW · 71 30 Aug 2023 · 14 MW · 7 31 Aug 2023 · 89 MW · 14 1 Sept 2023 · 17 MW · 5 2 Sept 2023 · 24 MW · 17 3 Sept 2023 · 76 MW · 30 4 Sept 2023 · 16 MW · 9 9 Sept 2023 · 18 MW · 3 10 Sept 2023 · 301 MW · 23 11 Sept 2023 · 713 MW · 47 13 Sept 2023 · 302 MW · 19 14 Sept 2023 · 368 MW · 21 15 Sept 2023 · 604 MW · 58 16 Sept 2023 · 149 MW · 44 17 Sept 2023 · 104 MW · 33 18 Sept 2023 · 6 MW · 4 22 Sept 2023 · 29 MW · 6 23 Sept 2023 · 5 MW · 6
13 Jul 17 Aug 31 Aug 13 Sept

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

The weather it burned in

27°high
58km/h · peak gust
28%lowest humidity

It had gone 5 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 10.2 mm on 25 Sept.

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 4% of the area of London (64 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
    6,337 ha reached on 9 Jul
    0.2 %

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 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

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)
7 Jul 25.9 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 17
8 Jul 26.5 °C 35 % 21 km/h 1.6 mm Moderate 17
9 Jul 26.1 °C 37 % 29 km/h 4.3 mm Very low 5
10 Jul 23.2 °C 43 % 32 km/h 1.8 mm Very low 3
11 Jul 22.6 °C 35 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 4
12 Jul 22.0 °C 33 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
13 Jul 22.8 °C 34 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
14 Jul 21.0 °C 48 % 26 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 16
15 Jul 22.1 °C 38 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
16 Jul 20.6 °C 51 % 26 km/h 8.5 mm Moderate 16
17 Jul 17.0 °C 53 % 49 km/h 0.7 mm Very low 2
18 Jul 18.9 °C 44 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
19 Jul 23.8 °C 37 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
20 Jul 27.3 °C 31 % 30 km/h 3.7 mm Moderate 17
21 Jul 20.0 °C 72 % 23 km/h 11.5 mm Very low 0
22 Jul 19.2 °C 52 % 28 km/h 6.0 mm Very low 0
23 Jul 17.8 °C 47 % 19 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 0
24 Jul 18.0 °C 55 % 20 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 0
25 Jul 14.3 °C 83 % 32 km/h 13.9 mm Very low 0
26 Jul 16.8 °C 58 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 0
27 Jul 17.8 °C 67 % 27 km/h 7.9 mm Very low 0
28 Jul 22.6 °C 30 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 0
29 Jul 24.1 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
30 Jul 19.8 °C 57 % 24 km/h 7.3 mm Very low 0
31 Jul 18.6 °C 57 % 35 km/h 2.5 mm Very low 0
1 Aug 18.5 °C 42 % 22 km/h 0.7 mm Very low 0
2 Aug 16.8 °C 57 % 26 km/h 4.0 mm Very low 0
3 Aug 20.0 °C 43 % 22 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 0
4 Aug 24.8 °C 28 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
5 Aug 26.1 °C 32 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
6 Aug 27.1 °C 32 % 28 km/h 1.2 mm Low 9
7 Aug 23.3 °C 37 % 36 km/h 2.7 mm Very low 4
8 Aug 17.7 °C 70 % 24 km/h 8.8 mm Very low 0
9 Aug 18.4 °C 64 % 42 km/h 4.9 mm Very low 0
10 Aug 18.3 °C 50 % 45 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 1
11 Aug 15.1 °C 75 % 36 km/h 4.1 mm Very low 0
12 Aug 19.2 °C 56 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 1
13 Aug 20.9 °C 58 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
14 Aug 21.6 °C 45 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
15 Aug 21.9 °C 44 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
16 Aug 23.1 °C 47 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
17 Aug 18.1 °C 39 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
18 Aug 15.6 °C 47 % 37 km/h 0.6 mm Low 8
19 Aug 19.6 °C 38 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
20 Aug 19.3 °C 36 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
21 Aug 22.3 °C 31 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
22 Aug 20.7 °C 41 % 18 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 12
23 Aug 20.9 °C 42 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
24 Aug 21.4 °C 45 % 16 km/h 0.2 mm Low 10
25 Aug 23.5 °C 39 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
26 Aug 24.6 °C 39 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
27 Aug 25.8 °C 33 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
28 Aug 26.1 °C 31 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
29 Aug 22.6 °C 47 % 24 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 15
30 Aug 17.3 °C 59 % 37 km/h 0.8 mm Low 6
31 Aug 19.3 °C 42 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
1 Sept 20.5 °C 45 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
2 Sept 18.0 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
3 Sept 14.5 °C 41 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
4 Sept 13.2 °C 49 % 26 km/h 2.6 mm Moderate 15
5 Sept 12.3 °C 58 % 25 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 1
6 Sept 13.7 °C 50 % 33 km/h 0.8 mm Very low 3
7 Sept 13.7 °C 53 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
8 Sept 17.9 °C 36 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
9 Sept 20.8 °C 35 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
10 Sept 22.3 °C 31 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
11 Sept 17.6 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
12 Sept 13.6 °C 68 % 43 km/h 4.1 mm Very low 3
13 Sept 14.7 °C 38 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
14 Sept 18.3 °C 36 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
15 Sept 16.4 °C 41 % 58 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 17
16 Sept 14.5 °C 46 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
17 Sept 12.6 °C 64 % 54 km/h 4.7 mm Low 7
18 Sept 11.9 °C 51 % 54 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 4
19 Sept 9.7 °C 68 % 31 km/h 5.3 mm Very low 0
20 Sept 13.7 °C 52 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
21 Sept 18.2 °C 51 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
22 Sept 19.1 °C 47 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
23 Sept 13.5 °C 52 % 29 km/h 4.3 mm Low 8
24 Sept after 13.5 °C 46 % 40 km/h 0.7 mm Very low 1
25 Sept after 11.7 °C 58 % 46 km/h 10.2 mm Very low 1

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 17.3, a minimum humidity of 36% and 5 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2017: 27.

FWI at the start 17.3
Minimum humidity 36 %
Days without rain 5
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Bulkley-Nechako G fire, August 2018
2,125 ha 31 days FWI 14.1 Min. humidity 34 % 59 km away, in 2018

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 7.5 mm on 7 Sept.

What happened to them

38 days
median duration
7,103 ha
median area
37 %
went past 10,000 ha
4.1 mm
rain at the end (median; 27 of 27 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (6,384 ha against a median of 7,103 ha) and lasted 79 days, against 38 days.

All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.1 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

10.2 mmfirst rain
25 Sept2 days after it ended
58km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 23 Sept, and on 25 Sept 10.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 27 of 27, with a median of 4.1 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 2017.
  • 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 · 30 Jun 2023
After · 30 Sept 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 14 July 2023 the air beside the fire reached 2,205 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 815: 54 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak2,205 µg/m³
Days over the guideline39 days
PM103,159 µg/m³
Optical depth12.56
5 Jul22 Jul8 Aug25 Aug11 Sept
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 · 1,719Every 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?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 7 July 2023 to 23 September 2023 (79 days). The perimeter dates it from 7 July 2023 to 22 September 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 6,384 hectares (63.8 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 (6,337 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 27.3 °C, humidity dropped to 28 % and gusts hit 58 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 21, class Moderate.
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 2017 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 27. Their median duration was 38 days and their median area 7,103 ha; 37 % went past 10,000 ha. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.1 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 22 September 2023 → 23 September 2023.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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 adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 7 July 2023 to 22 September 2023. 1,719 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 2025, 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.