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US · United States · –

Cedar Creek Fire, July 2021 Okanogan

Out · last detection 16 Sept 2021, 20:36 UTC

The fire started on 8 July 2021 in Okanogan, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 71 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 23,735 hectares, spread across a single county.

It is the 16th largest in Washington since 2016 (of 285 with a page). Number 27 in United States in 2021, of 385.

Burnt area
23,735ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 71days
8 Jul 2021 – 16 Sept 2021
Counties hit
1
counties
Started on
8 Jul
2021
Heat detections
5,304
in a single hotspot: 529 MW
Danger at start
1
Very low · FWI index
Average daily power
1.5GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 8 Jul16 Sept
16 Sept 2021

How it evolved, day by day

11 Jul 2021 · 486 MW · 16 12 Jul 2021 · 2,700 MW · 70 13 Jul 2021 · 1,624 MW · 92 14 Jul 2021 · 870 MW · 115 15 Jul 2021 · 1,661 MW · 142 16 Jul 2021 · 502 MW · 89 17 Jul 2021 · 965 MW · 87 18 Jul 2021 · 1,489 MW · 88 19 Jul 2021 · 2,050 MW · 236 20 Jul 2021 · 9,659 MW · 364 21 Jul 2021 · 9,708 MW · 400 22 Jul 2021 · 5,241 MW · 401 23 Jul 2021 · 4,113 MW · 257 24 Jul 2021 · 1,782 MW · 274 25 Jul 2021 · 4,828 MW · 377 26 Jul 2021 · 13,488 MW · 664 27 Jul 2021 · 744 MW · 230 28 Jul 2021 · 3,292 MW · 228 29 Jul 2021 · 2,467 MW · 275 30 Jul 2021 · 3,711 MW · 306 31 Jul 2021 · 1,031 MW · 161 2 Aug 2021 · 13 MW · 9 3 Aug 2021 · 97 MW · 19 4 Aug 2021 · 29 MW · 8 5 Aug 2021 · 605 MW · 52 6 Aug 2021 · 20 MW · 15 7 Aug 2021 · 1 MW · 1 8 Aug 2021 · 3 MW · 3 9 Aug 2021 · 4 MW · 2 10 Aug 2021 · 57 MW · 5 11 Aug 2021 · 92 MW · 19 12 Aug 2021 · 398 MW · 44 13 Aug 2021 · 428 MW · 51 14 Aug 2021 · 575 MW · 67 15 Aug 2021 · 135 MW · 51 17 Aug 2021 · 9 MW · 5 18 Aug 2021 · 56 MW · 15 19 Aug 2021 · 66 MW · 4 20 Aug 2021 · 2 MW · 3 29 Aug 2021 · 47 MW · 2 30 Aug 2021 · 5 MW · 3 3 Sept 2021 · 2 MW · 2 4 Sept 2021 · 8 MW · 4 5 Sept 2021 · 12 MW · 6 6 Sept 2021 · 199 MW · 12 7 Sept 2021 · 204 MW · 15 8 Sept 2021 · 40 MW · 7 9 Sept 2021 · 7 MW · 4 10 Sept 2021 · 2 MW · 1 14 Sept 2021 · 2 MW · 2 16 Sept 2021 · 3 MW · 1
11 Jul 26 Jul 14 Aug 6 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

28°high
58km/h · peak gust
15%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 9.2 mm on 17 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 15% of the area of London (237 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. Okanogan where it started
    23,709 ha reached on 11 Jul
    1.7 %

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.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2020
Built-up area0.69 ha
Residents≈ 20

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.69 hectares of built-up land and about 20 residents (GHSL 2020, 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.

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 19.3 °C 43 % 32 km/h 5.9 mm Very low 1
9 Jul 23.5 °C 29 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
10 Jul 21.5 °C 30 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
11 Jul 22.4 °C 26 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
12 Jul 24.3 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
13 Jul 24.6 °C 27 % 39 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 21
14 Jul 22.7 °C 26 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
15 Jul 19.6 °C 35 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
16 Jul 18.5 °C 38 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
17 Jul 20.3 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
18 Jul 21.9 °C 25 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
19 Jul 23.3 °C 25 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm High 22
20 Jul 20.0 °C 29 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
21 Jul 14.7 °C 37 % 52 km/h 0.5 mm High 21
22 Jul 16.9 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
23 Jul 18.5 °C 34 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
24 Jul 23.3 °C 27 % 43 km/h 0.5 mm High 23
25 Jul 22.7 °C 25 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
26 Jul 22.6 °C 27 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
27 Jul 22.2 °C 26 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
28 Jul 23.3 °C 24 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
29 Jul 25.5 °C 15 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
30 Jul 27.9 °C 22 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
31 Jul 24.1 °C 26 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm High 30
1 Aug 18.6 °C 49 % 29 km/h 10.4 mm Very low 0
2 Aug 23.2 °C 27 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
3 Aug 23.5 °C 29 % 27 km/h 1.6 mm Low 7
4 Aug 24.8 °C 22 % 28 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 17
5 Aug 22.2 °C 26 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
6 Aug 16.8 °C 45 % 56 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 19
7 Aug 14.8 °C 60 % 41 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 4
8 Aug 10.0 °C 62 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
9 Aug 20.0 °C 35 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
10 Aug 24.0 °C 31 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
11 Aug 28.5 °C 20 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
12 Aug 27.9 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
13 Aug 26.3 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
14 Aug 24.6 °C 26 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
15 Aug 22.7 °C 24 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
16 Aug 18.9 °C 44 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Aug 11.1 °C 48 % 58 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 14
18 Aug 19.7 °C 22 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
19 Aug 17.8 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 21
20 Aug 13.5 °C 63 % 30 km/h 12.5 mm Very low 0
21 Aug 13.2 °C 61 % 37 km/h 3.1 mm Very low 0
22 Aug 10.6 °C 52 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
23 Aug 10.2 °C 43 % 37 km/h 0.8 mm Very low 3
24 Aug 15.7 °C 31 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
25 Aug 16.9 °C 26 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
26 Aug 13.0 °C 52 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
27 Aug 11.2 °C 52 % 38 km/h 0.4 mm Low 11
28 Aug 18.4 °C 32 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
29 Aug 19.5 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
30 Aug 14.1 °C 39 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
31 Aug 7.0 °C 53 % 48 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 13
1 Sept 12.7 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
2 Sept 16.2 °C 24 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
3 Sept 17.2 °C 28 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
4 Sept 17.3 °C 32 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
5 Sept 16.6 °C 40 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
6 Sept 18.5 °C 26 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
7 Sept 21.2 °C 25 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
8 Sept 16.5 °C 44 % 47 km/h 1.0 mm Low 11
9 Sept 19.0 °C 32 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
10 Sept 13.2 °C 50 % 35 km/h 1.9 mm Very low 4
11 Sept 14.6 °C 50 % 37 km/h 1.2 mm Very low 5
12 Sept 12.6 °C 41 % 39 km/h 0.6 mm Low 8
13 Sept 14.7 °C 32 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
14 Sept 12.3 °C 43 % 38 km/h 1.9 mm Very low 4
15 Sept 9.0 °C 37 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
16 Sept 10.6 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
17 Sept after 2.9 °C 53 % 56 km/h 9.2 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 0.7, a minimum humidity of 43% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 15.

FWI at the start 0.7
Minimum humidity 43 %
Days without rain 0
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Delabarre Fire, September 2023
1,689 ha 1 day FWI 0.5 Min. humidity 42 % 239 km away, in 2023

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.4 mm on 7 Sept.

What happened to them

35 days
median duration
1,689 ha
median area
73 %
went past 1,000 ha
5.3 mm
rain at the end (median; 15 of 15 had it)

It was 14.1 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 71 days, against 35 days.

None of its 15 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 5.3 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

9.2 mmfirst rain
17 Septthe day after it ended
58km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 16 Sept, and on 17 Sept 9.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 15 of 15, with a median of 5.3 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 2016.
  • 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 · 1 Jul 2021
After · 23 Sept 2021

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 · 5,304Every 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 Cedar Creek Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (8 July 2021). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 16 September 2021 (71 days from 8 July 2021), 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 23,735 hectares (237.4 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire only entered Okanogan (23,709 ha, 1.7 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 28.5 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 58 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 32, class 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.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 15. Their median duration was 35 days and their median area 1,689 ha; 73 % went past 1,000 ha. None of its 15 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 5.3 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 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

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: 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. 5,304 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 2020, 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 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.