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Bulkley-Nechako E fire, June 2018 Bulkley-Nechako E, Bulkley-Nechako D

Out · last detection 5 Sept 2018, 10:04 UTC

The fire started on 20 June 2018 in Bulkley-Nechako E, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 78 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 52,517 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 census subdivisions.

It is the 30th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 448 with a page). Number 9 in Canada in 2018, of 212.

Burnt area
52,517ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
78days
20 Jun 2018 – 5 Sept 2018
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
20 Jun
2018
Heat detections
12,723
in a single hotspot: 2,078 MW
Danger at start
2
Very low · FWI index
Energy released
218.6GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

5 Sept 2018
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 20 Jun5 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

3112367891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303112345

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

The weather it burned in

30°high
67km/h · peak gust
15%lowest humidity

It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.9 mm on 8 Sept.

This area had burned before

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

What happened to each town

  1. Bulkley-Nechako E where it started
    48,195 ha reached on 31 Jul
    2.7 %
  2. Bulkley-Nechako D
    4,469 ha reached on 3 Aug
    1.0 %

Burnt area inside each census subdivision, from crossing the official 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)
20 Jun 25.7 °C 35 % 34 km/h 5.0 mm Very low 2
21 Jun 23.3 °C 29 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
22 Jun 20.0 °C 29 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
23 Jun 18.7 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
24 Jun 12.9 °C 60 % 27 km/h 8.5 mm Very low 0
25 Jun 12.9 °C 34 % 64 km/h 6.5 mm Very low 1
26 Jun 12.3 °C 34 % 67 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
27 Jun 13.5 °C 36 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
28 Jun 12.4 °C 49 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
29 Jun 14.6 °C 47 % 46 km/h 2.0 mm Very low 2
30 Jun 12.3 °C 46 % 57 km/h 2.7 mm Very low 2
1 Jul 12.0 °C 37 % 52 km/h 0.9 mm Very low 3
2 Jul 16.6 °C 41 % 37 km/h 4.5 mm Very low 1
3 Jul 15.6 °C 51 % 46 km/h 2.0 mm Very low 1
4 Jul 18.6 °C 48 % 35 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 1
5 Jul 18.2 °C 44 % 45 km/h 4.6 mm Very low 0
6 Jul 17.8 °C 40 % 42 km/h 1.7 mm Very low 1
7 Jul 15.9 °C 45 % 48 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 3
8 Jul 18.7 °C 35 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
9 Jul 19.7 °C 38 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
10 Jul 19.5 °C 32 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
11 Jul 16.7 °C 47 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
12 Jul 17.6 °C 35 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
13 Jul 15.7 °C 31 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 13
14 Jul 22.0 °C 23 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
15 Jul 23.7 °C 20 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
16 Jul 24.3 °C 30 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Jul 22.0 °C 42 % 38 km/h 1.7 mm Low 5
18 Jul 19.7 °C 28 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
19 Jul 15.6 °C 37 % 43 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 14
20 Jul 9.3 °C 72 % 38 km/h 13.2 mm Very low 0
21 Jul 20.4 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 2
22 Jul 19.4 °C 52 % 37 km/h 2.6 mm Very low 1
23 Jul 17.8 °C 36 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
24 Jul 22.2 °C 27 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
25 Jul 24.0 °C 24 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
26 Jul 25.6 °C 22 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
27 Jul 27.1 °C 20 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
28 Jul 29.1 °C 22 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
29 Jul 29.9 °C 23 % 42 km/h 0.1 mm High 28
30 Jul 29.7 °C 18 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
31 Jul 25.1 °C 39 % 35 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 20
1 Aug 23.6 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.3 mm High 22
2 Aug 21.9 °C 29 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
3 Aug 18.5 °C 40 % 48 km/h 0.1 mm High 22
4 Aug 20.4 °C 32 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
5 Aug 24.4 °C 24 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
6 Aug 24.8 °C 17 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
7 Aug 25.1 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
8 Aug 26.2 °C 24 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
9 Aug 25.3 °C 23 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
10 Aug 22.1 °C 27 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
11 Aug 20.7 °C 20 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
12 Aug 22.7 °C 22 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
13 Aug 26.0 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
14 Aug 24.9 °C 21 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Aug 20.3 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
16 Aug 22.9 °C 15 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
17 Aug 20.4 °C 28 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
18 Aug 20.2 °C 24 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
19 Aug 21.7 °C 26 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
20 Aug 23.7 °C 17 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
21 Aug 27.5 °C 15 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
22 Aug 23.4 °C 23 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
23 Aug 15.0 °C 33 % 43 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
24 Aug 18.0 °C 28 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm High 30
25 Aug 15.3 °C 43 % 45 km/h 2.9 mm Low 7
26 Aug 15.9 °C 34 % 44 km/h 2.3 mm Low 6
27 Aug 20.6 °C 30 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
28 Aug 16.9 °C 46 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
29 Aug 15.0 °C 34 % 40 km/h 1.1 mm Moderate 12
30 Aug 15.3 °C 32 % 46 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 16
31 Aug 12.0 °C 52 % 64 km/h 1.5 mm Low 10
1 Sept 12.2 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 13
2 Sept 12.2 °C 42 % 55 km/h 4.4 mm Very low 4
3 Sept 12.1 °C 38 % 29 km/h 0.1 mm Low 6
4 Sept 16.0 °C 27 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
5 Sept 16.6 °C 35 % 22 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 15
6 Sept after 17.7 °C 38 % 28 km/h 1.4 mm Low 8
7 Sept after 15.7 °C 46 % 35 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 4
8 Sept after 14.0 °C 44 % 39 km/h 2.9 mm Very low 3

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 13 Jun 2018
After · 12 Sept 2018

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 · 12,723Every 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 E fire last?
It burned between 20 June 2018 and 5 September 2018: 78 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 52,517 hectares (525.2 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire entered 2 census subdivisions: Bulkley-Nechako E (48,195 ha, 2.7 %); Bulkley-Nechako D (4,469 ha, 1.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.9 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 67 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 41, class Very 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.

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

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.

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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.

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.