Skip to content
worldfires
en
AU · Australia · →

Dundas fire, 25 October 2019 Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Dundas

Out · last detection 29 Nov 2019, 05:19 UTC

The fire started on 25 October 2019 in Dundas, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 36 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 161,625 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.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the 9th largest in Western Australia since 2016 (of 2728 with a page). Number 13 in Australia in 2019, of 802.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Kalgoorlie-Boulder · 2019Kalgoorlie-Boulder · 2019Kalgoorlie-Boulder · 2017

Burnt area
161,625ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
36days
25 Oct 2019 – 29 Nov 2019
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
25 Oct
2019
Heat detections
12,796
in a single hotspot: 1,169 MW
Danger at start
53
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
7.1GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 25 Oct29 Nov
29 Nov 2019

How it evolved, day by day

25 Oct 2019 · 33 MW · 20 26 Oct 2019 · 181 MW · 40 27 Oct 2019 · 760 MW · 112 28 Oct 2019 · 7,204 MW · 897 30 Oct 2019 · 62,591 MW · 1172 1 Nov 2019 · 1,497 MW · 94 2 Nov 2019 · 243 MW · 45 3 Nov 2019 · 1,086 MW · 325 4 Nov 2019 · 6,959 MW · 651 5 Nov 2019 · 42,704 MW · 2095 6 Nov 2019 · 4,171 MW · 336 7 Nov 2019 · 1,220 MW · 180 8 Nov 2019 · 1,855 MW · 112 9 Nov 2019 · 6,357 MW · 387 10 Nov 2019 · 56,374 MW · 2333 11 Nov 2019 · 3,070 MW · 253 12 Nov 2019 · 929 MW · 137 13 Nov 2019 · 1,341 MW · 140 14 Nov 2019 · 2,963 MW · 190 15 Nov 2019 · 3,141 MW · 344 16 Nov 2019 · 647 MW · 87 17 Nov 2019 · 7,860 MW · 580 18 Nov 2019 · 3,017 MW · 120 19 Nov 2019 · 5,751 MW · 449 20 Nov 2019 · 773 MW · 225 21 Nov 2019 · 1,663 MW · 299 22 Nov 2019 · 2,014 MW · 301 23 Nov 2019 · 9,377 MW · 551 24 Nov 2019 · 4,291 MW · 116 25 Nov 2019 · 869 MW · 82 26 Nov 2019 · 307 MW · 67 27 Nov 2019 · 466 MW · 47 28 Nov 2019 · 47 MW · 8 29 Nov 2019 · 11 MW · 1
25 Oct 30 Oct 1 Nov 6 Nov 11 Nov 16 Nov 21 Nov 26 Nov

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

44°high
86km/h · peak gust
5%lowest humidity

It had gone 12 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

1% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,478 ha in 2017, 1,090 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,277 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned almost the same area as London (1,616 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 town

  1. Kalgoorlie-Boulder
    129,680 ha reached on 26 Oct
    1.4 %
  2. Dundas where it started
    32,690 ha reached on 25 Oct
    0.4 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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)
25 Oct 26.1 °C 18 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
26 Oct 26.6 °C 25 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
27 Oct 30.2 °C 16 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
28 Oct 37.5 °C 8 % 66 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 92
29 Oct 28.6 °C 28 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Oct 39.9 °C 7 % 84 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 122
31 Oct 27.9 °C 10 % 82 km/h 1.0 mm Very extreme 80
1 Nov 24.1 °C 14 % 73 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
2 Nov 21.6 °C 23 % 54 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 55
3 Nov 26.7 °C 17 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
4 Nov 29.7 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
5 Nov 35.8 °C 8 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
6 Nov 27.9 °C 18 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
7 Nov 28.5 °C 19 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
8 Nov 25.9 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
9 Nov 30.7 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
10 Nov 40.9 °C 6 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 89
11 Nov 27.6 °C 22 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
12 Nov 25.0 °C 24 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
13 Nov 27.8 °C 15 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
14 Nov 34.5 °C 11 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
15 Nov 35.1 °C 16 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
16 Nov 36.4 °C 14 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
17 Nov 44.3 °C 5 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
18 Nov 41.3 °C 9 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 92
19 Nov 43.7 °C 6 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 94
20 Nov 29.0 °C 18 % 86 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 88
21 Nov 25.9 °C 14 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
22 Nov 33.3 °C 10 % 65 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
23 Nov 32.8 °C 16 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
24 Nov 36.4 °C 15 % 69 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 89
25 Nov 27.7 °C 20 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
26 Nov 28.8 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
27 Nov 34.6 °C 8 % 62 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 90
28 Nov 28.6 °C 29 % 62 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
29 Nov 25.1 °C 23 % 57 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 63
30 Nov after 23.6 °C 24 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
1 Dec after 28.2 °C 31 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
2 Dec after 30.6 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
3 Dec after 34.3 °C 11 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
4 Dec after 39.4 °C 9 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
5 Dec after 37.5 °C 16 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
6 Dec after 38.4 °C 14 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
7 Dec after 43.1 °C 6 % 66 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 105
8 Dec after 33.0 °C 20 % 66 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 82
9 Dec after 29.2 °C 23 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 18 Oct 2019
After · 6 Dec 2019

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 · 12,796Every 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 Dundas fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 25 October 2019 and 29 November 2019: 36 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 161,625 hectares (1,616.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Kalgoorlie-Boulder (129,680 ha, 1.4 %); Dundas (32,690 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 44.3 °C, humidity dropped to 5 % and gusts hit 86 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 122, class Very extreme.
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 · 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.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page

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 000.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 12,796 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 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.