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Central Kootenay H fire, July 2018 Central Kootenay H

Out · last detection 25 Aug 2018, 10:11 UTC

The fire started on 17 July 2018 in Central Kootenay H, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 40 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 1,701 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 262th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 161 in Canada in 2018, of 212.

Burnt area
1,701ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
40days
17 Jul 2018 – 25 Aug 2018
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
17 Jul
2018
Heat detections
275
in a single hotspot: 649 MW
Danger at start
13
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
313MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Jul25 Aug
25 Aug 2018

How it evolved, day by day

19 Jul 2018 · 7 MW · 2 8 Aug 2018 · 57 MW · 3 9 Aug 2018 · 89 MW · 20 10 Aug 2018 · 4,160 MW · 46 11 Aug 2018 · 661 MW · 34 12 Aug 2018 · 74 MW · 33 13 Aug 2018 · 5 MW · 1 14 Aug 2018 · 4 MW · 2 15 Aug 2018 · 37 MW · 11 16 Aug 2018 · 587 MW · 30 17 Aug 2018 · 52 MW · 24 18 Aug 2018 · 114 MW · 19 19 Aug 2018 · 9 MW · 6 20 Aug 2018 · 14 MW · 7 21 Aug 2018 · 15 MW · 9 22 Aug 2018 · 36 MW · 14 23 Aug 2018 · 22 MW · 11 24 Aug 2018 · 3 MW · 1 25 Aug 2018 · 3 MW · 2
19 Jul 10 Aug 15 Aug 19 Aug 23 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

35°high
63km/h · peak gust
12%lowest humidity

It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 7.1 mm on 26 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 1.1% of the area of London (17 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 H where it started
    1,700 ha reached on 19 Jul
    0.5 %

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 2020
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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)
17 Jul 28.6 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 13
18 Jul 24.3 °C 32 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
19 Jul 25.2 °C 19 % 52 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 16
20 Jul 18.4 °C 29 % 48 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 15
21 Jul 17.2 °C 31 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
22 Jul 21.3 °C 31 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
23 Jul 22.4 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
24 Jul 23.9 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 15
25 Jul 24.5 °C 20 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
26 Jul 24.4 °C 17 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
27 Jul 24.5 °C 20 % 27 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 16
28 Jul 25.0 °C 19 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 19
29 Jul 28.2 °C 18 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
30 Jul 28.8 °C 16 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
31 Jul 29.5 °C 17 % 29 km/h 1.4 mm Moderate 16
1 Aug 27.5 °C 23 % 47 km/h 1.7 mm Moderate 13
2 Aug 23.7 °C 26 % 46 km/h 1.2 mm Moderate 12
3 Aug 16.5 °C 47 % 36 km/h 6.8 mm Very low 1
4 Aug 19.2 °C 39 % 25 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 3
5 Aug 23.4 °C 30 % 20 km/h 0.2 mm Low 8
6 Aug 24.3 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
7 Aug 26.3 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
8 Aug 28.9 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
9 Aug 31.7 °C 16 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
10 Aug 34.7 °C 12 % 57 km/h 0.2 mm High 33
11 Aug 25.0 °C 30 % 63 km/h 6.3 mm Very low 3
12 Aug 13.9 °C 60 % 40 km/h 3.2 mm Very low 0
13 Aug 19.4 °C 32 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
14 Aug 23.0 °C 30 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
15 Aug 25.6 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
16 Aug 27.0 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
17 Aug 24.7 °C 25 % 40 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 21
18 Aug 21.9 °C 24 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
19 Aug 19.9 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
20 Aug 21.1 °C 26 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
21 Aug 24.7 °C 19 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
22 Aug 26.3 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
23 Aug 22.6 °C 20 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
24 Aug 16.7 °C 40 % 42 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 20
25 Aug 14.5 °C 37 % 29 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 17
26 Aug after 11.9 °C 59 % 32 km/h 7.1 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 12.9, a minimum humidity of 21% and 6 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 24.

FWI at the start 12.9
Minimum humidity 21 %
Days without rain 6
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Improvement District No. 9 B* fire, August 2022
3,549 ha 51 days FWI 11.0 Min. humidity 22 % 217 km away, in 2022

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.6 mm on 21 Oct.

What happened to them

39 days
median duration
2,374 ha
median area
96 %
went past 1,000 ha
5.1 mm
rain at the end (median; 24 of 24 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (1,701 ha against a median of 2,374 ha) and lasted 40 days, against 39 days.

All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 5.1 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

7.1 mmfirst rain
26 Augthe day after it ended
63km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 25 Aug, and on 26 Aug 7.1 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 24 of 24, with a median of 5.1 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 2018
After · 1 Sept 2018

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 · 275Every 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 H fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 17 July 2018 to 25 August 2018 (40 days). The perimeter dates it from 17 July 2018 to 22 August 2018.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 1,701 hectares (17.0 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Central Kootenay H (1,700 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.7 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 63 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 33, class High.
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: 24. Their median duration was 39 days and their median area 2,374 ha; 96 % 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 5.1 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: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 17 July 2018 to 22 August 2018. 275 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: 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.