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Burke fire, 20 August 2023 Roper Gulf, Barkly, Burke

Out · last detection 16 Oct 2023, 04:13 UTC

The fire started on 20 August 2023 in Burke, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 58 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 231,553 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

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.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the 5th largest in Queensland since 2016 (of 1742 with a page). Number 5 in Australia in 2023, of 1237.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Barkly · 2017Burke · 2018Burke · 2018Burke · 2020

Burnt area
231,553ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
58days
20 Aug 2023 – 16 Oct 2023
Municipalities hit
3
local government areas
Started on
20 Aug
2023
Heat detections
8,450
in a single hotspot: 288 MW
Danger at start
49
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
1.4GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 20 Aug16 Oct
16 Oct 2023

How it evolved, day by day

20 Aug 2023 · 40 MW · 10 21 Aug 2023 · 1,338 MW · 90 22 Aug 2023 · 25 MW · 9 23 Aug 2023 · 119 MW · 30 24 Aug 2023 · 179 MW · 57 25 Aug 2023 · 292 MW · 91 26 Aug 2023 · 639 MW · 120 27 Aug 2023 · 438 MW · 108 28 Aug 2023 · 315 MW · 62 29 Aug 2023 · 669 MW · 102 30 Aug 2023 · 2,811 MW · 224 31 Aug 2023 · 9,239 MW · 359 1 Sept 2023 · 2,672 MW · 297 2 Sept 2023 · 830 MW · 222 3 Sept 2023 · 2,412 MW · 276 4 Sept 2023 · 2,186 MW · 178 5 Sept 2023 · 3,986 MW · 205 6 Sept 2023 · 1,582 MW · 148 7 Sept 2023 · 1,312 MW · 160 8 Sept 2023 · 8,820 MW · 670 9 Sept 2023 · 5,263 MW · 597 10 Sept 2023 · 2,571 MW · 543 11 Sept 2023 · 1,654 MW · 303 12 Sept 2023 · 1,210 MW · 293 13 Sept 2023 · 1,668 MW · 274 14 Sept 2023 · 538 MW · 119 15 Sept 2023 · 711 MW · 170 16 Sept 2023 · 651 MW · 110 17 Sept 2023 · 566 MW · 112 18 Sept 2023 · 1,869 MW · 159 19 Sept 2023 · 309 MW · 49 20 Sept 2023 · 2,555 MW · 146 21 Sept 2023 · 2,990 MW · 276 22 Sept 2023 · 3,589 MW · 437 23 Sept 2023 · 3,268 MW · 235 24 Sept 2023 · 414 MW · 61 25 Sept 2023 · 394 MW · 44 26 Sept 2023 · 296 MW · 57 27 Sept 2023 · 360 MW · 52 28 Sept 2023 · 267 MW · 52 29 Sept 2023 · 356 MW · 58 30 Sept 2023 · 401 MW · 59 1 Oct 2023 · 497 MW · 46 2 Oct 2023 · 863 MW · 57 3 Oct 2023 · 269 MW · 23 4 Oct 2023 · 243 MW · 48 5 Oct 2023 · 626 MW · 112 6 Oct 2023 · 1,676 MW · 222 7 Oct 2023 · 629 MW · 95 8 Oct 2023 · 680 MW · 76 9 Oct 2023 · 66 MW · 7 10 Oct 2023 · 67 MW · 20 11 Oct 2023 · 61 MW · 7 12 Oct 2023 · 1,158 MW · 82 13 Oct 2023 · 157 MW · 24 14 Oct 2023 · 17 MW · 3 15 Oct 2023 · 11 MW · 3 16 Oct 2023 · 6 MW · 1
20 Aug 29 Aug 31 Aug 7 Sept 16 Sept 25 Sept 4 Oct 13 Oct

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

The weather it burned in

38°high
54km/h · peak gust
6%lowest humidity

It had gone 47 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

61% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 4,462 ha in 2016, 97,885 ha in 2017, 26,373 ha in 2018, 2,749 ha in 2019, 8,211 ha in 2020, 5,198 ha in 2021, 10,579 ha in 2022. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 141,743 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 1.5 times the area of London (2,316 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 town

  1. Roper Gulf
    125,155 ha reached on 31 Aug
    0.7 %
  2. Barkly
    56,855 ha reached on 30 Aug
    0.2 %
  3. Burke where it started
    51,408 ha reached on 20 Aug
    1.3 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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 area0.31 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.31 hectares of 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)
20 Aug 29.5 °C 17 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
21 Aug 30.6 °C 13 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
22 Aug 31.8 °C 12 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
23 Aug 32.1 °C 15 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
24 Aug 31.6 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
25 Aug 30.9 °C 20 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
26 Aug 31.4 °C 21 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
27 Aug 31.6 °C 22 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
28 Aug 31.5 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
29 Aug 31.9 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Aug 32.8 °C 16 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
31 Aug 33.3 °C 8 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
1 Sept 31.7 °C 13 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
2 Sept 31.7 °C 11 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
3 Sept 32.6 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
4 Sept 33.6 °C 19 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
5 Sept 35.0 °C 20 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
6 Sept 34.7 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
7 Sept 35.3 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
8 Sept 34.9 °C 15 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
9 Sept 34.4 °C 15 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
10 Sept 34.7 °C 13 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
11 Sept 33.1 °C 11 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
12 Sept 32.4 °C 20 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
13 Sept 32.1 °C 18 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
14 Sept 32.0 °C 21 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
15 Sept 31.7 °C 21 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
16 Sept 31.9 °C 23 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
17 Sept 33.0 °C 24 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
18 Sept 33.9 °C 19 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
19 Sept 33.1 °C 30 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
20 Sept 35.7 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
21 Sept 38.2 °C 13 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
22 Sept 38.0 °C 9 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
23 Sept 36.8 °C 10 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
24 Sept 33.9 °C 28 % 39 km/h 0.3 mm Extreme 54
25 Sept 34.2 °C 25 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
26 Sept 35.8 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
27 Sept 35.1 °C 19 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
28 Sept 35.6 °C 13 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
29 Sept 35.5 °C 15 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
30 Sept 35.3 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
1 Oct 36.9 °C 20 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
2 Oct 37.5 °C 16 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
3 Oct 36.1 °C 26 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
4 Oct 33.4 °C 34 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
5 Oct 33.3 °C 13 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
6 Oct 34.6 °C 8 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
7 Oct 35.9 °C 14 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
8 Oct 32.4 °C 25 % 41 km/h 1.2 mm Very high 45
9 Oct 33.5 °C 37 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Oct 35.2 °C 26 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
11 Oct 36.6 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
12 Oct 36.5 °C 22 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
13 Oct 37.9 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
14 Oct 36.5 °C 9 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
15 Oct 36.9 °C 6 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
16 Oct 37.5 °C 8 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 86
17 Oct after 37.5 °C 9 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
18 Oct after 37.9 °C 9 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
19 Oct after 38.2 °C 10 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
20 Oct after 39.3 °C 14 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
21 Oct after 39.5 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
22 Oct after 38.4 °C 15 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
23 Oct after 39.5 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
24 Oct after 41.3 °C 9 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
25 Oct after 41.6 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
26 Oct after 37.2 °C 8 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 84

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 13 Aug 2023
After · 23 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 2 September 2023 the air beside the fire reached 42 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 24: 1.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak42 µg/m³
Days over the guideline6 days
PM1060 µg/m³
Optical depth0.90
20212223242526272829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293012345678910111213141516
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 · 8,450Every 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 Burke fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 20 August 2023 to 16 October 2023 (58 days). The perimeter dates it from 22 August 2023 to 13 October 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 231,553 hectares (2,315.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Roper Gulf (125,155 ha, 0.7 %); Barkly (56,855 ha, 0.2 %); Burke (51,408 ha, 1.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.2 °C, humidity dropped to 6 % and gusts hit 54 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 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 13 October 2023 → 16 October 2023.
  2. Start date: 22 August 2023 → 20 August 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 000.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 22 August 2023 to 13 October 2023. 8,450 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 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.