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Central Kootenay B fire, July 2023 Central Kootenay B, East Kootenay C

Out · last detection 21 Aug 2023, 09:09 UTC

The fire started on 17 July 2023 in Central Kootenay B, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 36 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 1,006 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 census subdivisions.

It is the 343th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 489 in Canada in 2023, of 489.

Burnt area
1,006ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
36days
17 Jul 2023 – 21 Aug 2023
Census subdivisions hit
2
municipalities
Started on
17 Jul
2023
Heat detections
235
in a single hotspot: 260 MW
Danger at start
26
High · FWI index
Average daily power
88MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Jul21 Aug
21 Aug 2023

How it evolved, day by day

21 Jul 2023 · 2 MW · 1 22 Jul 2023 · 118 MW · 18 23 Jul 2023 · 36 MW · 6 24 Jul 2023 · 65 MW · 12 25 Jul 2023 · 35 MW · 14 26 Jul 2023 · 20 MW · 5 27 Jul 2023 · 2 MW · 2 28 Jul 2023 · 5 MW · 2 29 Jul 2023 · 12 MW · 3 30 Jul 2023 · 5 MW · 4 31 Jul 2023 · 9 MW · 2 1 Aug 2023 · 17 MW · 9 2 Aug 2023 · 21 MW · 4 3 Aug 2023 · 279 MW · 13 4 Aug 2023 · 108 MW · 23 5 Aug 2023 · 60 MW · 9 15 Aug 2023 · 23 MW · 3 16 Aug 2023 · 56 MW · 5 17 Aug 2023 · 5 MW · 4 18 Aug 2023 · 863 MW · 20 19 Aug 2023 · 144 MW · 55 20 Aug 2023 · 128 MW · 19 21 Aug 2023 · 3 MW · 2
21 Jul 26 Jul 31 Jul 5 Aug 18 Aug

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
76km/h · peak gust
6%lowest humidity

It had gone 5 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 16.4 mm on 22 Aug.

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 0.6% of the area of London (10 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. Central Kootenay B where it started
    537 ha reached on 21 Jul
    0.3 %
  2. 468 ha reached on 4 Aug
    0.1 %

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)

Started with Strong wind: 15 % of the area in Canada

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
17 Jul 18.3 °C 29 % 76 km/h 1.3 mm High 26
18 Jul 19.2 °C 24 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
19 Jul 23.5 °C 20 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
20 Jul 26.6 °C 12 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
21 Jul 26.5 °C 17 % 51 km/h 0.2 mm High 33
22 Jul 25.4 °C 16 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
23 Jul 26.2 °C 13 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
24 Jul 25.4 °C 19 % 60 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 43
25 Jul 17.6 °C 21 % 68 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
26 Jul 18.5 °C 18 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
27 Jul 19.7 °C 20 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm High 28
28 Jul 19.9 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.4 mm High 22
29 Jul 24.0 °C 21 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
30 Jul 24.7 °C 18 % 54 km/h 1.5 mm Very high 38
31 Jul 23.3 °C 6 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
1 Aug 23.6 °C 8 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
2 Aug 25.5 °C 10 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
3 Aug 25.3 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
4 Aug 25.7 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
5 Aug 23.0 °C 26 % 33 km/h 3.9 mm High 35
6 Aug 22.4 °C 26 % 23 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 4
7 Aug 21.3 °C 35 % 33 km/h 2.2 mm Low 9
8 Aug 18.2 °C 44 % 50 km/h 0.4 mm Low 6
9 Aug 14.9 °C 49 % 55 km/h 3.3 mm Low 8
10 Aug 16.0 °C 38 % 51 km/h 0.4 mm Low 6
11 Aug 20.2 °C 24 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
12 Aug 19.2 °C 28 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
13 Aug 25.3 °C 20 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
14 Aug 28.2 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
15 Aug 29.6 °C 15 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
16 Aug 28.4 °C 16 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
17 Aug 28.0 °C 16 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Aug 22.2 °C 10 % 75 km/h 0.2 mm Extreme 51
19 Aug 16.3 °C 22 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
20 Aug 19.6 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
21 Aug 17.2 °C 44 % 33 km/h 1.4 mm High 24
22 Aug after 12.5 °C 80 % 35 km/h 16.4 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 25.7, a minimum humidity of 29% and 5 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 20.

FWI at the start 25.7
Minimum humidity 29 %
Days without rain 5
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Sterling Complex, August 2018
956 ha 20 days FWI 25.3 Min. humidity 27 % 113 km away, in 2018

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.4 mm on 26 Aug.

What happened to them

40 days
median duration
2,711 ha
median area
80 %
went past 1,000 ha
6.2 mm
rain at the end (median; 20 of 20 had it)

It stayed below its twins: 1,006 ha against a median of 2,711 ha. It lasted 36 days, against 40 days.

All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 6.2 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

16.4 mmfirst rain
22 Augthe day after it ended
76km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 21 Aug, and on 22 Aug 16.4 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 20 of 20, with a median of 6.2 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 · 10 Jul 2023
After · 28 Aug 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 74 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 40: 2.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak74 µg/m³
Days over the guideline8 days
PM10107 µg/m³
Optical depth1.79
15 Jul23 Jul31 Jul8 Aug16 Aug
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 · 235Every 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 Central Kootenay B fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 17 July 2023 to 21 August 2023 (36 days). The perimeter dates it from 17 July 2023 to 20 August 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 1,006 hectares (10.1 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire entered 2 census subdivisions: Central Kootenay B (537 ha, 0.3 %); East Kootenay C (468 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.6 °C, humidity dropped to 6 % and gusts hit 76 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 51, class Extreme.
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.
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: 20. Their median duration was 40 days and their median area 2,711 ha; 80 % went past 1,000 ha. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 6.2 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 20 August 2023 → 21 August 2023.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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 17 July 2023 to 20 August 2023. 235 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.