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Bulkley-Nechako E fire, 8 July 2023 Bulkley-Nechako E

Out · last detection 22 Sept 2023, 22:19 UTC

The fire started on 8 July 2023 in Bulkley-Nechako E, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 77 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 10,089 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 105th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 448 with a page). Number 173 in Canada in 2023, of 489.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Bulkley-Nechako E · 2024Bulkley-Nechako E · 2021Bulkley-Nechako E · 2023Bulkley-Nechako E · 2018

Burnt area
10,089ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
77days
8 Jul 2023 – 22 Sept 2023
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
8 Jul
2023
Heat detections
2,879
in a single hotspot: 966 MW
Danger at start
10
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
1.3GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 8 Jul22 Sept
22 Sept 2023

How it evolved, day by day

9 Jul 2023 · 92 MW · 7 10 Jul 2023 · 1 MW · 2 11 Jul 2023 · 1,805 MW · 32 12 Jul 2023 · 4,706 MW · 226 13 Jul 2023 · 12,810 MW · 696 14 Jul 2023 · 1,549 MW · 185 15 Jul 2023 · 1,213 MW · 133 16 Jul 2023 · 225 MW · 66 17 Jul 2023 · 19 MW · 6 18 Jul 2023 · 38 MW · 4 19 Jul 2023 · 253 MW · 31 20 Jul 2023 · 993 MW · 48 21 Jul 2023 · 8 MW · 8 13 Aug 2023 · 5 MW · 1 15 Aug 2023 · 6 MW · 1 16 Aug 2023 · 4 MW · 1 17 Aug 2023 · 10 MW · 6 22 Aug 2023 · 1 MW · 1 24 Aug 2023 · 3 MW · 1 25 Aug 2023 · 4 MW · 2 27 Aug 2023 · 10 MW · 5 28 Aug 2023 · 1,309 MW · 26 30 Aug 2023 · 32 MW · 18 31 Aug 2023 · 402 MW · 22 1 Sept 2023 · 811 MW · 71 2 Sept 2023 · 16,277 MW · 322 3 Sept 2023 · 4,232 MW · 330 4 Sept 2023 · 990 MW · 105 5 Sept 2023 · 50 MW · 11 7 Sept 2023 · 1 MW · 1 8 Sept 2023 · 101 MW · 17 9 Sept 2023 · 375 MW · 38 10 Sept 2023 · 228 MW · 59 11 Sept 2023 · 1,749 MW · 147 13 Sept 2023 · 133 MW · 32 14 Sept 2023 · 604 MW · 19 15 Sept 2023 · 3,305 MW · 91 16 Sept 2023 · 175 MW · 22 17 Sept 2023 · 1,358 MW · 64 18 Sept 2023 · 38 MW · 14 20 Sept 2023 · 1 MW · 1 21 Sept 2023 · 3 MW · 2 22 Sept 2023 · 24 MW · 5
9 Jul 16 Jul 15 Aug 28 Aug 2 Sept 5 Sept 14 Sept 22 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
61km/h · peak gust
22%lowest humidity

It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 6.3 mm on 23 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 6.4% of the area of London (101 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 E where it started
    10,114 ha reached on 9 Jul
    0.6 %

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)
8 Jul 25.8 °C 35 % 22 km/h 1.4 mm Low 10
9 Jul 23.5 °C 46 % 25 km/h 4.0 mm Very low 3
10 Jul 20.5 °C 53 % 37 km/h 1.7 mm Very low 4
11 Jul 21.0 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
12 Jul 18.7 °C 40 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
13 Jul 22.1 °C 36 % 22 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 15
14 Jul 20.0 °C 52 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
15 Jul 20.3 °C 48 % 28 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 16
16 Jul 18.4 °C 54 % 24 km/h 7.8 mm Very low 1
17 Jul 16.5 °C 51 % 44 km/h 1.4 mm Very low 3
18 Jul 17.2 °C 57 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
19 Jul 24.0 °C 39 % 16 km/h 0.7 mm Low 7
20 Jul 24.5 °C 41 % 26 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 3
21 Jul 19.3 °C 56 % 24 km/h 6.5 mm Very low 0
22 Jul 16.8 °C 62 % 35 km/h 3.7 mm Very low 0
23 Jul 17.3 °C 52 % 23 km/h 4.5 mm Very low 0
24 Jul 15.9 °C 67 % 21 km/h 6.1 mm Very low 0
25 Jul 11.2 °C 89 % 43 km/h 18.0 mm Very low 0
26 Jul 18.3 °C 48 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 0
27 Jul 14.8 °C 72 % 23 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 0
28 Jul 19.2 °C 48 % 22 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 1
29 Jul 20.8 °C 46 % 22 km/h 2.3 mm Very low 1
30 Jul 18.4 °C 52 % 31 km/h 2.0 mm Very low 1
31 Jul 18.9 °C 46 % 31 km/h 2.9 mm Very low 1
1 Aug 17.8 °C 57 % 28 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 0
2 Aug 17.8 °C 44 % 21 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 1
3 Aug 21.6 °C 37 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
4 Aug 23.6 °C 35 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
5 Aug 26.5 °C 30 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
6 Aug 24.4 °C 45 % 26 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 2
7 Aug 22.0 °C 45 % 28 km/h 1.7 mm Very low 2
8 Aug 17.5 °C 74 % 24 km/h 7.1 mm Very low 0
9 Aug 16.9 °C 57 % 44 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 1
10 Aug 17.8 °C 51 % 36 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 2
11 Aug 15.2 °C 74 % 30 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 0
12 Aug 20.6 °C 57 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
13 Aug 24.9 °C 44 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
14 Aug 23.6 °C 44 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
15 Aug 23.5 °C 41 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
16 Aug 25.4 °C 38 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
17 Aug 20.6 °C 34 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
18 Aug 16.2 °C 43 % 36 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 12
19 Aug 20.3 °C 34 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
20 Aug 19.7 °C 40 % 22 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 11
21 Aug 22.1 °C 32 % 38 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 15
22 Aug 19.4 °C 44 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
23 Aug 18.5 °C 53 % 26 km/h 0.8 mm Low 8
24 Aug 20.3 °C 50 % 19 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
25 Aug 21.3 °C 49 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
26 Aug 24.2 °C 33 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
27 Aug 26.9 °C 22 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
28 Aug 27.1 °C 31 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
29 Aug 20.0 °C 58 % 26 km/h 3.2 mm Very low 3
30 Aug 17.7 °C 50 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
31 Aug 19.2 °C 44 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm Low 11
1 Sept 23.1 °C 38 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
2 Sept 22.3 °C 26 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
3 Sept 17.1 °C 42 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
4 Sept 15.1 °C 50 % 26 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 13
5 Sept 11.4 °C 71 % 22 km/h 4.4 mm Very low 0
6 Sept 14.0 °C 66 % 25 km/h 2.0 mm Very low 0
7 Sept 16.1 °C 41 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
8 Sept 19.3 °C 40 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
9 Sept 22.1 °C 34 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
10 Sept 23.3 °C 30 % 33 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 18
11 Sept 18.8 °C 42 % 30 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 15
12 Sept 14.5 °C 65 % 36 km/h 3.4 mm Very low 2
13 Sept 15.4 °C 44 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
14 Sept 21.2 °C 29 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
15 Sept 16.9 °C 45 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
16 Sept 15.3 °C 49 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
17 Sept 13.8 °C 62 % 54 km/h 2.0 mm Very low 5
18 Sept 12.3 °C 52 % 51 km/h 0.5 mm Low 7
19 Sept 10.6 °C 70 % 41 km/h 5.8 mm Very low 0
20 Sept 14.6 °C 49 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
21 Sept 19.2 °C 51 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
22 Sept 19.2 °C 34 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
23 Sept after 13.1 °C 59 % 37 km/h 6.3 mm Very low 0

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 1 Jul 2023
After · 29 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 20 August 2023 the air beside the fire reached 568 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 289: 19 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak568 µg/m³
Days over the guideline52 days
PM10812 µg/m³
Optical depth8.78
67891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021
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 · 2,879Every 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?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 8 July 2023 to 22 September 2023 (77 days). The perimeter dates it from 8 July 2023 to 18 September 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 10,089 hectares (100.9 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Bulkley-Nechako E (10,114 ha, 0.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 27.1 °C, humidity dropped to 22 % and gusts hit 61 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.

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: 18 September 2023 → 22 September 2023.

RSS Changes to this page

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 8 July 2023 to 18 September 2023. 2,879 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.