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Cook fire, 20 July 2021 Cook

Out · last detection 9 Sept 2021, 15:03 UTC

The fire started on 20 July 2021 in Cook, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 52 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 34,038 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

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 164th largest in Queensland since 2016 (of 1737 with a page). Number 31 in Australia in 2021, of 460.

Burnt area
34,038ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
52days
20 Jul 2021 – 9 Sept 2021
Municipalities hit
1
local government areas
Started on
20 Jul
2021
Heat detections
1,578
in a single hotspot: 130 MW
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index
Energy released
5.6GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

9 Sept 2021
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 20 Jul9 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

202122232425262728293031123578910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789

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
70km/h · peak gust
25%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.1 mm on 25 Sept.

This area had burned before

54% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 16,773 ha in 2016, 819 ha in 2018, 2,131 ha in 2019, 542 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 18,320 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Cook where it started
    34,283 ha reached on 13 Jul
    0.3 %

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)
13 Jul 30.0 °C 47 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
14 Jul 29.0 °C 54 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
15 Jul 31.7 °C 46 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
16 Jul 30.9 °C 52 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
17 Jul 31.7 °C 46 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
18 Jul 30.3 °C 52 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm High 27
19 Jul 30.7 °C 43 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
20 Jul 31.3 °C 41 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
21 Jul 30.4 °C 43 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
22 Jul 31.6 °C 40 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
23 Jul 31.8 °C 35 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
24 Jul 32.7 °C 34 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
25 Jul 32.7 °C 32 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
26 Jul 31.5 °C 38 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
27 Jul 31.9 °C 35 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
28 Jul 31.2 °C 36 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
29 Jul 33.2 °C 30 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
30 Jul 32.3 °C 36 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
31 Jul 32.0 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
1 Aug 31.7 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
2 Aug 30.7 °C 33 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
3 Aug 31.3 °C 31 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
4 Aug 31.7 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
5 Aug 30.7 °C 34 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
6 Aug 29.3 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
7 Aug 29.2 °C 32 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
8 Aug 28.9 °C 40 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
9 Aug 28.8 °C 47 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Aug 31.5 °C 38 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
11 Aug 31.0 °C 40 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
12 Aug 31.5 °C 37 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
13 Aug 30.3 °C 44 % 53 km/h 0.9 mm High 28
14 Aug 31.7 °C 38 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Aug 32.6 °C 36 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
16 Aug 32.3 °C 34 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
17 Aug 31.0 °C 39 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
18 Aug 30.9 °C 35 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
19 Aug 31.4 °C 28 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
20 Aug 31.4 °C 37 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Aug 30.1 °C 52 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
22 Aug 31.8 °C 49 % 56 km/h 0.4 mm High 35
23 Aug 32.6 °C 41 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
24 Aug 32.2 °C 41 % 33 km/h 0.4 mm High 27
25 Aug 31.5 °C 43 % 36 km/h 0.3 mm High 27
26 Aug 32.7 °C 36 % 39 km/h 0.4 mm High 31
27 Aug 32.7 °C 37 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm High 33
28 Aug 33.5 °C 38 % 43 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
29 Aug 31.9 °C 45 % 39 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
30 Aug 32.3 °C 45 % 47 km/h 0.5 mm High 35
31 Aug 33.4 °C 41 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
1 Sept 31.0 °C 46 % 67 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
2 Sept 32.3 °C 40 % 70 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
3 Sept 31.7 °C 35 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
4 Sept 30.9 °C 41 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
5 Sept 33.0 °C 28 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
6 Sept 32.9 °C 28 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
7 Sept 29.8 °C 40 % 62 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 43
8 Sept 31.4 °C 28 % 69 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 50
9 Sept 29.8 °C 39 % 70 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
10 Sept after 29.1 °C 49 % 60 km/h 7.1 mm Low 10
11 Sept after 30.0 °C 50 % 56 km/h 0.5 mm High 23
12 Sept after 31.1 °C 48 % 48 km/h 0.2 mm High 26
13 Sept after 34.6 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
14 Sept after 35.3 °C 28 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Sept after 34.2 °C 28 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
16 Sept after 33.3 °C 25 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
17 Sept after 32.1 °C 28 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Sept after 30.5 °C 32 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
19 Sept after 30.4 °C 44 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
20 Sept after 34.5 °C 31 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Sept after 35.5 °C 18 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
22 Sept after 33.1 °C 21 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
23 Sept after 30.3 °C 27 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
24 Sept after 32.0 °C 34 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
25 Sept after 33.6 °C 38 % 34 km/h 1.1 mm High 25

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 13 Jul 2021
After · 16 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 · 1,578Every 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 20 July 2021 and 9 September 2021: 52 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 34,038 hectares (340.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Cook (34,283 ha, 0.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.3 °C, humidity dropped to 25 % and gusts hit 70 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 50, 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.