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Castle Fire, August 2020 Tulare

Out · last detection 7 Nov 2020, 10:21 UTC

The fire started on 19 August 2020 in Tulare, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 80 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 70,556 hectares, spread across a single county.

It is the 14th largest in California since 2016 (of 442 with a page). Number 14 in United States in 2020, of 441.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Schaeffer · 2017Mountaineer Fire · 2018Pier · 2017Alder · 2018

Burnt area
70,556ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 80days
19 Aug 2020 – 6 Nov 2020
Counties hit
1
counties
Started on
19 Aug
2020
Heat detections
18,724
in a single hotspot: 2,090 MW
Danger at start
28
High · FWI index
Average daily power
5.4GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 19 Aug6 Nov
7 Nov 2020

How it evolved, day by day

20 Aug 2020 · 36 MW · 1 21 Aug 2020 · 1,590 MW · 19 22 Aug 2020 · 193 MW · 26 23 Aug 2020 · 4,819 MW · 173 24 Aug 2020 · 36,030 MW · 591 25 Aug 2020 · 9,503 MW · 425 26 Aug 2020 · 5,512 MW · 254 27 Aug 2020 · 3,438 MW · 261 28 Aug 2020 · 6,584 MW · 301 29 Aug 2020 · 22,628 MW · 579 30 Aug 2020 · 10,889 MW · 456 31 Aug 2020 · 4,320 MW · 284 1 Sept 2020 · 4,605 MW · 286 2 Sept 2020 · 4,484 MW · 225 3 Sept 2020 · 38,215 MW · 604 4 Sept 2020 · 19,918 MW · 599 5 Sept 2020 · 12,642 MW · 392 6 Sept 2020 · 3,099 MW · 309 7 Sept 2020 · 5,263 MW · 340 8 Sept 2020 · 2,197 MW · 211 9 Sept 2020 · 1,439 MW · 169 10 Sept 2020 · 246 MW · 72 11 Sept 2020 · 2,578 MW · 127 12 Sept 2020 · 15,297 MW · 326 13 Sept 2020 · 38,318 MW · 899 14 Sept 2020 · 55,002 MW · 2052 15 Sept 2020 · 19,001 MW · 870 16 Sept 2020 · 14,642 MW · 699 17 Sept 2020 · 9,193 MW · 726 18 Sept 2020 · 4,500 MW · 192 19 Sept 2020 · 2,836 MW · 423 20 Sept 2020 · 5,910 MW · 390 21 Sept 2020 · 6,554 MW · 382 22 Sept 2020 · 6,862 MW · 408 23 Sept 2020 · 1,649 MW · 279 24 Sept 2020 · 1,531 MW · 309 25 Sept 2020 · 969 MW · 187 26 Sept 2020 · 661 MW · 111 27 Sept 2020 · 1,153 MW · 163 28 Sept 2020 · 1,636 MW · 174 29 Sept 2020 · 1,512 MW · 157 30 Sept 2020 · 1,996 MW · 207 1 Oct 2020 · 10,369 MW · 208 2 Oct 2020 · 3,208 MW · 265 3 Oct 2020 · 2,747 MW · 287 4 Oct 2020 · 1,015 MW · 157 5 Oct 2020 · 3,842 MW · 270 6 Oct 2020 · 5,910 MW · 310 7 Oct 2020 · 4,597 MW · 263 8 Oct 2020 · 366 MW · 113 9 Oct 2020 · 496 MW · 87 10 Oct 2020 · 150 MW · 44 11 Oct 2020 · 116 MW · 36 12 Oct 2020 · 299 MW · 45 13 Oct 2020 · 475 MW · 88 14 Oct 2020 · 427 MW · 78 15 Oct 2020 · 379 MW · 61 16 Oct 2020 · 457 MW · 68 17 Oct 2020 · 213 MW · 55 18 Oct 2020 · 135 MW · 63 19 Oct 2020 · 260 MW · 57 20 Oct 2020 · 231 MW · 29 21 Oct 2020 · 385 MW · 55 22 Oct 2020 · 188 MW · 48 23 Oct 2020 · 107 MW · 29 24 Oct 2020 · 174 MW · 10 25 Oct 2020 · 61 MW · 26 26 Oct 2020 · 23 MW · 5 27 Oct 2020 · 15 MW · 7 28 Oct 2020 · 105 MW · 27 29 Oct 2020 · 228 MW · 50 30 Oct 2020 · 245 MW · 39 31 Oct 2020 · 212 MW · 31 1 Nov 2020 · 265 MW · 12 2 Nov 2020 · 330 MW · 13 3 Nov 2020 · 357 MW · 47 4 Nov 2020 · 203 MW · 45 5 Nov 2020 · 170 MW · 30 6 Nov 2020 · 36 MW · 5 7 Nov 2020 · 10 MW · 3
20 Aug 1 Sept 13 Sept 14 Sept 25 Sept 7 Oct 19 Oct 31 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

29°high
58km/h · peak gust
5%lowest humidity

It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.2 mm on 7 Nov.

This area had burned before

5% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 279 ha in 2016, 2,639 ha in 2017, 801 ha in 2018.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 45% of the area of London (706 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 county

  1. Tulare where it started
    70,623 ha reached on 20 Aug
    5.6 %

Burnt area inside each county, 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.

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)
19 Aug 26.4 °C 24 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm High 28
20 Aug 26.8 °C 16 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
21 Aug 25.9 °C 17 % 46 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
22 Aug 25.8 °C 18 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
23 Aug 24.4 °C 27 % 37 km/h 0.2 mm High 30
24 Aug 26.0 °C 34 % 45 km/h 2.1 mm Low 11
25 Aug 25.5 °C 25 % 49 km/h 0.5 mm High 25
26 Aug 24.9 °C 25 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
27 Aug 24.8 °C 18 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
28 Aug 25.3 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
29 Aug 25.1 °C 17 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
30 Aug 25.2 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
31 Aug 25.1 °C 19 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
1 Sept 25.5 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
2 Sept 26.0 °C 16 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
3 Sept 27.4 °C 12 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
4 Sept 29.3 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
5 Sept 29.1 °C 13 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
6 Sept 29.0 °C 11 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
7 Sept 27.2 °C 9 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
8 Sept 24.1 °C 20 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
9 Sept 21.7 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
10 Sept 19.2 °C 16 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
11 Sept 20.0 °C 12 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
12 Sept 21.9 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
13 Sept 24.2 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
14 Sept 23.3 °C 15 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Sept 23.1 °C 20 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
16 Sept 23.8 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
17 Sept 23.7 °C 11 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
18 Sept 19.5 °C 16 % 48 km/h 4.6 mm Low 7
19 Sept 21.4 °C 20 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
20 Sept 22.5 °C 22 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
21 Sept 22.5 °C 13 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
22 Sept 22.9 °C 14 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
23 Sept 23.8 °C 15 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
24 Sept 23.8 °C 13 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
25 Sept 23.6 °C 14 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
26 Sept 23.7 °C 21 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
27 Sept 24.2 °C 21 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
28 Sept 23.8 °C 13 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
29 Sept 24.7 °C 19 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
30 Sept 23.7 °C 19 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
1 Oct 24.3 °C 9 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
2 Oct 24.5 °C 8 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
3 Oct 24.3 °C 11 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
4 Oct 24.2 °C 8 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
5 Oct 23.6 °C 8 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
6 Oct 22.4 °C 13 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Oct 20.9 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
8 Oct 18.7 °C 20 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
9 Oct 18.6 °C 23 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
10 Oct 17.5 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
11 Oct 19.2 °C 30 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
12 Oct 22.3 °C 17 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
13 Oct 22.6 °C 9 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
14 Oct 23.7 °C 13 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
15 Oct 23.4 °C 14 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
16 Oct 22.1 °C 18 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
17 Oct 23.0 °C 11 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
18 Oct 22.1 °C 14 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
19 Oct 22.0 °C 8 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
20 Oct 21.1 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Oct 20.4 °C 11 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
22 Oct 19.4 °C 10 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
23 Oct 17.9 °C 18 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
24 Oct 16.5 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
25 Oct 11.6 °C 31 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
26 Oct 7.4 °C 5 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
27 Oct 14.1 °C 19 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
28 Oct 17.5 °C 6 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
29 Oct 17.1 °C 7 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
30 Oct 16.3 °C 6 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
31 Oct 18.3 °C 6 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
1 Nov 18.2 °C 10 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
2 Nov 16.4 °C 20 % 33 km/h 0.6 mm High 29
3 Nov 16.8 °C 15 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
4 Nov 18.2 °C 19 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
5 Nov 18.8 °C 13 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
6 Nov 13.9 °C 18 % 58 km/h 2.4 mm Low 10
7 Nov after -0.6 °C 60 % 37 km/h 4.2 mm Very low 0

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 12 Aug 2020
After · 13 Nov 2020

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 · 18,724Every 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 United States ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Castle Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (19 August 2020). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 6 November 2020 (80 days from 19 August 2020), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter published by United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) is 70,556 hectares (705.6 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire only entered Tulare (70,623 ha, 5.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.3 °C, humidity dropped to 5 % and gusts hit 58 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 48, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC, public domain), NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of United States. 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 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

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
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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.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: MTBS (US Geological Survey and US Forest Service), official.
  • The official perimeter has no end date: the end is the last day with VIIRS detections inside the perimeter before a gap of more than 10 days (150 days at most), so it is approximate. 18,724 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.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

Where this data comes from

The perimeter is official and in the public domain. For past years it comes from MTBS (Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity), run by the U.S. Geological Survey and the USDA Forest Service, which map it on Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery. For the current and last year it comes from WFIGS at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC): incident perimeters mapped by fire crews, aircraft and imagery. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. County boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Public Domain). The area per county is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.