Burned area
satellite only3,112ha
Perimeter published by NBAC (NRCan).
- Source
- NBAC (NRCan)
- Date
- 11 Aug 2018 – 11 Sept 2018
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
CA · Canada · –
Central Kootenay J fire, 11 August 2018 Central Kootenay J
Out · last detection 11 Sept 2018, 09:53 UTC
The fire started on 11 August 2018 in Central Kootenay J, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 32 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 3,112 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.
It is the 192th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 114 in Canada in 2018, of 212.
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-24matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Duration by satellite
satellite only32days
11 Aug 2018 to 11 Sept 2018: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- NBAC (NRCan) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 11 Sept 2018, 09:53 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only11 Aug 2018
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- NBAC (NRCan) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 11 Aug 2018
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
Hotspots
satellite only1,116
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 252 MW.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
- Date
- 11 Aug 2018 – 11 Sept 2018
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only1,613MW
Total radiative power on 22 August 2018; hotspots that day: 112.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 22 Aug 2018
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model9.6FWI · low
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 0.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 11 Aug 2018, local noon
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings
Weather during the fire
model28.5°C · 20% RH
High of 28.5 °C and minimum humidity of 20% on 16 August 2018; gusts of 63 km/h on 11 August 2018.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 11 Aug 2018 – 11 Sept 2018
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
This page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
-
· reconstructed GHSLPopulation and built-up area computed
What was saved on 24 October 2026
Every night a snapshot of what the page shows is saved. If anything changes, it appears in the list as a log entry.
- Area
- 3,112 ha
- Dates
- 11 Aug 2018 – 11 Sept 2018
- Name
- Central Kootenay J
- Official record
- —
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/central-kootenay-j-2018-08?v=2026-10-24A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
CSV for this fire central-kootenay-j-2018-08.csv · daily, no individual hotspots
| fecha | focos_viirs | frp_mw | tmax_c | tmin_c | hr_min_pct | viento_max_kmh | racha_max_kmh | precip_mm | fwi | clase_fwi | dentro_del_incendio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-08-11 | 0 | 0 | 27.1 | 16.6 | 28 | 13.2 | 63.4 | 3.1 | 9.6 | bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-12 | 5 | 6 | 16.4 | 10.9 | 48 | 8.2 | 40 | 0.6 | 9.6 | bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-13 | 0 | 0 | 21.6 | 7 | 33 | 7.2 | 31 | 0 | 15.1 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-08-14 | 4 | 8 | 25.3 | 6.6 | 29 | 5.8 | 20.9 | 0 | 19 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-08-15 | 11 | 26 | 28 | 12.1 | 22 | 7.4 | 33.1 | 0 | 24.9 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-16 | 37 | 498 | 28.5 | 13 | 20 | 10.2 | 44.6 | 0 | 29.4 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-17 | 19 | 1,036 | 26.7 | 14 | 25 | 9.8 | 42.1 | 0.4 | 29.6 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-18 | 63 | 939 | 24.1 | 10.6 | 20 | 7.7 | 33.8 | 0 | 28.5 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-19 | 54 | 498 | 21.2 | 6.5 | 28 | 7.2 | 28.8 | 0 | 26.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-20 | 63 | 613 | 22.9 | 9.7 | 29 | 9.3 | 42.5 | 0.3 | 27.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-21 | 116 | 1,369 | 26.4 | 8.8 | 17 | 4.6 | 21.6 | 0 | 27.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-22 | 112 | 1,613 | 27.7 | 11.4 | 18 | 7.9 | 33.5 | 0 | 30.6 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-23 | 101 | 874 | 23.7 | 12.5 | 22 | 9.8 | 44.3 | 0 | 32.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-24 | 68 | 312 | 18.4 | 9.9 | 32 | 11 | 46.1 | 0 | 28.2 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-25 | 31 | 73 | 15.6 | 6.9 | 42 | 6.9 | 31 | 0 | 20.9 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-08-26 | 12 | 15 | 13.3 | 7.2 | 59 | 5.5 | 28.1 | 4.2 | 0.9 | muy_bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-27 | 0 | 0 | 16.5 | 7 | 38 | 9 | 37.1 | 1 | 4.6 | muy_bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-28 | 1 | 3 | 18.8 | 7.7 | 40 | 7.3 | 33.8 | 0 | 8.2 | bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-29 | 2 | 5 | 19.4 | 10.4 | 39 | 12 | 59 | 1.1 | 9.9 | bajo | 1 |
| 2018-08-30 | 6 | 10 | 17.5 | 6.4 | 35 | 10.1 | 43.6 | 0 | 14.8 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-08-31 | 41 | 1,115 | 18.9 | 4.3 | 28 | 8.8 | 38.5 | 0 | 18.9 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-09-01 | 30 | 234 | 17.7 | 7 | 24 | 9.2 | 37.8 | 0 | 21.7 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-02 | 45 | 223 | 19.9 | 5.6 | 29 | 9.1 | 37.4 | 0 | 21.9 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-03 | 15 | 117 | 17.4 | 8 | 25 | 9.7 | 47.2 | 0 | 22.7 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-04 | 28 | 105 | 19.2 | 2.3 | 26 | 6.6 | 23.8 | 0 | 21.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-05 | 42 | 372 | 23 | 3.7 | 18 | 6.2 | 18 | 0 | 25.4 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-06 | 67 | 702 | 25.5 | 6.1 | 16 | 7.9 | 30.2 | 0 | 29.9 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-07 | 85 | 870 | 24.6 | 10.7 | 22 | 10.4 | 47.2 | 0.2 | 32.2 | alto | 1 |
| 2018-09-08 | 15 | 217 | 19.6 | 9.6 | 28 | 7.3 | 52.9 | 0.9 | 17.5 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-09-09 | 22 | 80 | 17.1 | 8.7 | 39 | 9.9 | 41.8 | 0 | 19 | moderado | 1 |
| 2018-09-10 | 14 | 476 | 14.5 | 7.4 | 54 | 6.1 | 41.4 | 7.2 | 0.4 | muy_bajo | 1 |
| 2018-09-11 | 7 | 8 | 14 | 4.6 | 40 | 5.9 | 28.1 | 5.7 | 0.2 | muy_bajo | 1 |
| 2018-09-12 | 0 | 0 | 11.3 | 2.8 | 62 | 5.8 | 31 | 4.3 | 0 | muy_bajo | 0 |
It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.
Live widget for your story
It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.
Sources for this page: NBAC (NRCan), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), GHSL (JRC). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology
- Burnt area
- 3,112ha
- official perimeter (CWFIS)
- Duration
- 32days
- 11 Aug 2018 – 11 Sept 2018
- Census subdivisions hit
- 1
- municipalities
- Started on
- 11 Aug
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 1,116
- in a single hotspot: 252 MW
- Danger at start
- 10
- Low · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 428MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
11 Aug11 Sept
11 Sept 2018
How it evolved, day by day
12 Aug
22 Aug
1 Sept
7 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
63km/h · peak gust
16%lowest humidity
It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.3 mm on 12 Sept.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each census subdivision
-
Central Kootenay J where it started3,101 ha reached on 12 Aug1.7 %
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 2020Built-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)
Started with Strong wind: 15 % of the area in Canada
| Day | High | Min. humidity | Peak gust | Rain | Danger (FWI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Aug | 27.1 °C | 28 % | 63 km/h | 3.1 mm | Low 10 |
| 12 Aug | 16.4 °C | 48 % | 40 km/h | 0.6 mm | Low 10 |
| 13 Aug | 21.6 °C | 33 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 15 |
| 14 Aug | 25.3 °C | 29 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 15 Aug | 28.0 °C | 22 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 16 Aug | 28.5 °C | 20 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 17 Aug | 26.7 °C | 25 % | 42 km/h | 0.4 mm | High 30 |
| 18 Aug | 24.1 °C | 20 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 19 Aug | 21.2 °C | 28 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 20 Aug | 22.9 °C | 29 % | 42 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 27 |
| 21 Aug | 26.4 °C | 17 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 27 |
| 22 Aug | 27.7 °C | 18 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 23 Aug | 23.7 °C | 22 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 24 Aug | 18.4 °C | 32 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 25 Aug | 15.6 °C | 42 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 26 Aug | 13.3 °C | 59 % | 28 km/h | 4.2 mm | Very low 1 |
| 27 Aug | 16.5 °C | 38 % | 37 km/h | 1.0 mm | Very low 5 |
| 28 Aug | 18.8 °C | 40 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 8 |
| 29 Aug | 19.4 °C | 39 % | 59 km/h | 1.1 mm | Low 10 |
| 30 Aug | 17.5 °C | 35 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 15 |
| 31 Aug | 18.9 °C | 28 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 1 Sept | 17.7 °C | 24 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 2 Sept | 19.9 °C | 29 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 3 Sept | 17.4 °C | 25 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 4 Sept | 19.2 °C | 26 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 21 |
| 5 Sept | 23.0 °C | 18 % | 18 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 6 Sept | 25.5 °C | 16 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 7 Sept | 24.6 °C | 22 % | 47 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 32 |
| 8 Sept | 19.6 °C | 28 % | 53 km/h | 0.9 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 9 Sept | 17.1 °C | 39 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 10 Sept | 14.5 °C | 54 % | 41 km/h | 7.2 mm | Very low 0 |
| 11 Sept | 14.0 °C | 40 % | 28 km/h | 5.7 mm | Very low 0 |
| 12 Sept after | 11.3 °C | 62 % | 31 km/h | 4.3 mm | Very low 0 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 9.6, a minimum humidity of 28% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.
FWI at the start
9.6
Minimum humidity
28 %
Days without rain
0
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Central Kootenay J fire, 11 August 2018
3,112 ha
32 days
FWI 9.6
Min. humidity 28 %
Kootenay Boundary D / Rural G* fire, July 2021
7,862 ha
65 days
FWI 8.9
Min. humidity 28 %
35 km away, in 2021
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.4 mm on 11 Sept.
Columbia-Shuswap F fire, July 2021
3,984 ha
40 days
FWI 11.0
Min. humidity 28 %
212 km away, in 2021
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 7.9 mm on 17 Aug.
Central Kootenay H fire, July 2021
4,967 ha
39 days
FWI 4.1
Min. humidity 28 %
43 km away, in 2021
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 8.8 mm on 16 Aug.
Rocky Ford Fire, July 2016
847 ha
1 day
FWI 9.1
Min. humidity 27 %
235 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
East Kootenay F fire, July 2023
5,070 ha
45 days
FWI 8.1
Min. humidity 27 %
208 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 10.8 mm on 22 Aug.
What happened to them
- 41 days
- median duration
- 3,848 ha
- median area
- 13 %
- went past 10,000 ha
- 6.0 mm
- rain at the end (median; 22 of 23 had it)
It burned an area similar to its twins (3,112 ha against a median of 3,848 ha) and lasted 32 days, against 41 days.
In 1 of 23, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 6.0 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
4.3 mmfirst rain
12 Septthe day after it ended
63km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 11 Sept, and on 12 Sept 4.3 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 22 of 23, with a median of 6.0 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.
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 4 Aug 2018
After · 18 Sept 2018
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 · 1,116Every 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 time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 3,849 haCentral Kootenay J11 August 2018 · 32 days · 18 km away
- 2,228 haCentral Kootenay J11 August 2018 · 32 days · 18 km away
- 1,303 haCentral Kootenay HAugust 2020 · 36 days · 28 km away
- 12,585 haCentral Kootenay J3 July 2021 · 102 days · 30 km away
- 7,862 haKootenay Boundary D / Rural G*July 2021 · 65 days · 35 km away
- 20,294 haCentral Kootenay J8 July 2021 · 65 days · 39 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Central Kootenay J fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 11 August 2018 to 11 September 2018 (32 days). The perimeter dates it from 11 August 2018 to 10 September 2018.
- How much area did it burn?
- The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 3,112 hectares (31.1 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
- Which census subdivisions burned?
- The fire only entered Central Kootenay J (3,101 ha, 1.7 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 28.5 °C, humidity dropped to 16 % and gusts hit 63 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 32, 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: 23. Their median duration was 41 days and their median area 3,848 ha; 13 % went past 10,000 ha. In 1 of 23, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 6.0 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
- CIFFC · Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre ↗
- CWFIS · Canadian Wildland Fire Information System ↗
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 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
How we know this
- Perimeter: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 11 August 2018 to 10 September 2018. 1,116 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.
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.