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Cook fire, 7 August 2018 Cook, Northern Peninsula Area

Out · last detection 27 Oct 2018, 15:52 UTC

The fire started on 7 August 2018 in Cook, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 82 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 90,475 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 45th largest in Queensland since 2016 (of 1737 with a page). Number 9 in Australia in 2018, of 923.

Burnt area
90,475ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
82days
7 Aug 2018 – 27 Oct 2018
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
7 Aug
2018
Heat detections
3,764
in a single hotspot: 221 MW
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index
Energy released
30.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

27 Oct 2018
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 7 Aug27 Oct

How it evolved, day by day

78910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930124567891011121314151617181920212223252627

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
80km/h · peak gust
28%lowest humidity

It had gone 13 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 11.6 mm on 28 Oct.

This area had burned before

4% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,471 ha in 2016, 359 ha in 2017.

What happened to each town

  1. Cook where it started
    90,090 ha reached on 7 Aug
    0.8 %
  2. Northern Peninsula Area
    122 ha reached on 3 Sept
    0.1 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre 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)
31 Jul 28.0 °C 48 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
1 Aug 27.2 °C 60 % 50 km/h 0.2 mm High 24
2 Aug 28.8 °C 57 % 52 km/h 0.1 mm High 24
3 Aug 28.1 °C 65 % 53 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 17
4 Aug 27.9 °C 68 % 53 km/h 1.4 mm Moderate 12
5 Aug 28.2 °C 60 % 57 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 20
6 Aug 29.5 °C 55 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
7 Aug 29.8 °C 51 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
8 Aug 29.2 °C 48 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
9 Aug 28.9 °C 54 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Aug 27.7 °C 54 % 59 km/h 0.3 mm High 29
11 Aug 28.8 °C 43 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
12 Aug 29.3 °C 39 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
13 Aug 28.2 °C 45 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
14 Aug 28.0 °C 49 % 62 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
15 Aug 28.0 °C 44 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
16 Aug 28.3 °C 52 % 48 km/h 0.2 mm High 29
17 Aug 28.7 °C 55 % 41 km/h 0.2 mm High 25
18 Aug 29.5 °C 48 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
19 Aug 30.5 °C 35 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
20 Aug 29.0 °C 28 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
21 Aug 27.3 °C 48 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
22 Aug 28.1 °C 48 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
23 Aug 30.4 °C 43 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
24 Aug 30.1 °C 45 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
25 Aug 29.5 °C 45 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
26 Aug 29.5 °C 46 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
27 Aug 30.7 °C 42 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
28 Aug 29.8 °C 46 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
29 Aug 29.7 °C 45 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
30 Aug 29.3 °C 39 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
31 Aug 31.0 °C 40 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
1 Sept 31.0 °C 49 % 43 km/h 0.1 mm High 30
2 Sept 30.9 °C 49 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
3 Sept 30.9 °C 43 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
4 Sept 30.3 °C 41 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
5 Sept 30.7 °C 40 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
6 Sept 29.8 °C 42 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
7 Sept 30.0 °C 43 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
8 Sept 29.2 °C 38 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
9 Sept 30.7 °C 42 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Sept 29.6 °C 42 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
11 Sept 29.8 °C 44 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
12 Sept 28.2 °C 55 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
13 Sept 31.0 °C 41 % 71 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
14 Sept 29.8 °C 49 % 65 km/h 0.8 mm High 30
15 Sept 30.6 °C 47 % 53 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
16 Sept 31.1 °C 45 % 45 km/h 0.4 mm High 29
17 Sept 31.1 °C 33 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
18 Sept 29.8 °C 40 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
19 Sept 29.8 °C 40 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
20 Sept 30.8 °C 35 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
21 Sept 29.0 °C 54 % 51 km/h 1.3 mm Moderate 19
22 Sept 29.2 °C 46 % 71 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
23 Sept 29.8 °C 42 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
24 Sept 29.6 °C 39 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
25 Sept 30.1 °C 42 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
26 Sept 29.9 °C 40 % 63 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
27 Sept 30.0 °C 41 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
28 Sept 29.8 °C 40 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
29 Sept 29.3 °C 40 % 63 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
30 Sept 28.7 °C 52 % 59 km/h 1.0 mm High 25
1 Oct 30.1 °C 39 % 68 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
2 Oct 29.3 °C 50 % 80 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
3 Oct 29.1 °C 52 % 63 km/h 0.1 mm High 36
4 Oct 30.6 °C 43 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
5 Oct 34.2 °C 31 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
6 Oct 31.9 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Oct 31.1 °C 41 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
8 Oct 31.2 °C 36 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
9 Oct 30.8 °C 41 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
10 Oct 31.0 °C 42 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
11 Oct 32.0 °C 44 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
12 Oct 32.8 °C 43 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
13 Oct 34.0 °C 41 % 41 km/h 0.2 mm High 33
14 Oct 32.6 °C 49 % 41 km/h 0.3 mm High 30
15 Oct 32.7 °C 50 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
16 Oct 32.7 °C 46 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
17 Oct 32.9 °C 43 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
18 Oct 34.0 °C 32 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
19 Oct 32.7 °C 38 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
20 Oct 32.5 °C 42 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
21 Oct 33.9 °C 37 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
22 Oct 34.7 °C 32 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
23 Oct 33.0 °C 41 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
24 Oct 32.7 °C 34 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
25 Oct 32.3 °C 36 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
26 Oct 31.4 °C 35 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
27 Oct 31.1 °C 56 % 46 km/h 0.7 mm High 23
28 Oct after 32.1 °C 56 % 38 km/h 11.6 mm Low 6

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 31 Jul 2018
After · 3 Nov 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 · 3,764Every 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 Australia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Cook fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 7 August 2018 and 27 October 2018: 82 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 90,475 hectares (904.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Cook (90,090 ha, 0.8 %); Northern Peninsula Area (122 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.7 °C, humidity dropped to 28 % and gusts hit 80 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 43, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Australia (geoBoundaries). 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: 000

Satellite cross-check

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 000.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.