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East Arnhem fire, 7 July 2018 East Arnhem

Out · last detection 1 Oct 2018, 04:33 UTC

The fire started on 7 July 2018 in East Arnhem, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 87 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 56,251 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 149th largest in Northern Territory since 2016 (of 3515 with a page). Number 31 in Australia in 2018, of 923.

Compare with…

Suggestions: East Arnhem · 2017East Arnhem · 2024East Arnhem · 2022East Arnhem · 2024

Burnt area
56,251ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
87days
7 Jul 2018 – 1 Oct 2018
Municipalities hit
1
local government areas
Started on
7 Jul
2018
Heat detections
2,991
in a single hotspot: 258 MW
Danger at start
20
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
252MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 7 Jul1 Oct
1 Oct 2018

How it evolved, day by day

7 Jul 2018 · 11 MW · 2 8 Jul 2018 · 54 MW · 12 9 Jul 2018 · 7 MW · 3 10 Jul 2018 · 117 MW · 29 11 Jul 2018 · 81 MW · 20 12 Jul 2018 · 131 MW · 17 13 Jul 2018 · 88 MW · 22 14 Jul 2018 · 333 MW · 32 15 Jul 2018 · 4 MW · 6 16 Jul 2018 · 364 MW · 58 17 Jul 2018 · 180 MW · 59 18 Jul 2018 · 455 MW · 89 19 Jul 2018 · 157 MW · 27 20 Jul 2018 · 136 MW · 16 21 Jul 2018 · 304 MW · 83 22 Jul 2018 · 450 MW · 93 23 Jul 2018 · 234 MW · 40 24 Jul 2018 · 115 MW · 26 25 Jul 2018 · 110 MW · 25 26 Jul 2018 · 74 MW · 9 27 Jul 2018 · 8 MW · 5 28 Jul 2018 · 33 MW · 12 29 Jul 2018 · 31 MW · 7 30 Jul 2018 · 42 MW · 6 31 Jul 2018 · 9 MW · 7 1 Aug 2018 · 6 MW · 7 2 Aug 2018 · 36 MW · 12 3 Aug 2018 · 110 MW · 15 4 Aug 2018 · 18 MW · 3 5 Aug 2018 · 30 MW · 5 7 Aug 2018 · 86 MW · 37 8 Aug 2018 · 373 MW · 60 9 Aug 2018 · 227 MW · 49 10 Aug 2018 · 121 MW · 24 11 Aug 2018 · 29 MW · 9 12 Aug 2018 · 10 MW · 8 13 Aug 2018 · 166 MW · 52 14 Aug 2018 · 183 MW · 36 15 Aug 2018 · 288 MW · 33 16 Aug 2018 · 208 MW · 33 17 Aug 2018 · 90 MW · 23 18 Aug 2018 · 23 MW · 8 19 Aug 2018 · 2,216 MW · 137 20 Aug 2018 · 1,029 MW · 143 21 Aug 2018 · 688 MW · 76 22 Aug 2018 · 327 MW · 37 23 Aug 2018 · 497 MW · 99 24 Aug 2018 · 536 MW · 62 25 Aug 2018 · 164 MW · 24 26 Aug 2018 · 2 MW · 2 27 Aug 2018 · 116 MW · 20 28 Aug 2018 · 88 MW · 33 29 Aug 2018 · 375 MW · 46 30 Aug 2018 · 115 MW · 19 31 Aug 2018 · 341 MW · 27 1 Sept 2018 · 546 MW · 46 2 Sept 2018 · 429 MW · 61 3 Sept 2018 · 540 MW · 47 4 Sept 2018 · 1,963 MW · 148 5 Sept 2018 · 2,009 MW · 152 6 Sept 2018 · 828 MW · 106 7 Sept 2018 · 189 MW · 32 8 Sept 2018 · 44 MW · 7 9 Sept 2018 · 100 MW · 28 10 Sept 2018 · 594 MW · 69 11 Sept 2018 · 218 MW · 32 12 Sept 2018 · 73 MW · 13 13 Sept 2018 · 48 MW · 16 14 Sept 2018 · 180 MW · 39 15 Sept 2018 · 211 MW · 40 16 Sept 2018 · 282 MW · 36 17 Sept 2018 · 174 MW · 28 18 Sept 2018 · 318 MW · 39 19 Sept 2018 · 108 MW · 28 20 Sept 2018 · 198 MW · 40 21 Sept 2018 · 186 MW · 41 22 Sept 2018 · 139 MW · 27 23 Sept 2018 · 89 MW · 15 24 Sept 2018 · 34 MW · 13 25 Sept 2018 · 38 MW · 13 26 Sept 2018 · 23 MW · 6 27 Sept 2018 · 59 MW · 10 28 Sept 2018 · 7 MW · 3 29 Sept 2018 · 18 MW · 5 30 Sept 2018 · 16 MW · 5 1 Oct 2018 · 6 MW · 2
7 Jul 20 Jul 2 Aug 16 Aug 19 Aug 29 Aug 11 Sept 24 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

29°high
55km/h · peak gust
35%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

3% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,805 ha in 2017.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 36% of the area of London (563 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. East Arnhem where it started
    56,879 ha reached on 7 Jul
    1.7 %

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)
7 Jul 24.5 °C 59 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
8 Jul 23.5 °C 61 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
9 Jul 23.7 °C 61 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
10 Jul 23.9 °C 58 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
11 Jul 24.4 °C 54 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
12 Jul 24.4 °C 55 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
13 Jul 24.4 °C 59 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
14 Jul 24.7 °C 58 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
15 Jul 25.0 °C 63 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
16 Jul 24.9 °C 49 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
17 Jul 24.7 °C 58 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
18 Jul 25.7 °C 51 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
19 Jul 25.5 °C 71 % 27 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
20 Jul 25.4 °C 59 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
21 Jul 24.6 °C 54 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
22 Jul 23.7 °C 49 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
23 Jul 24.2 °C 51 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
24 Jul 24.2 °C 74 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
25 Jul 25.0 °C 71 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
26 Jul 25.3 °C 64 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
27 Jul 24.6 °C 77 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
28 Jul 24.8 °C 75 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
29 Jul 24.8 °C 78 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
30 Jul 25.5 °C 63 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
31 Jul 26.1 °C 51 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
1 Aug 25.4 °C 62 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
2 Aug 24.6 °C 68 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
3 Aug 24.9 °C 71 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
4 Aug 25.2 °C 67 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
5 Aug 26.1 °C 69 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
6 Aug 25.8 °C 75 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
7 Aug 24.9 °C 51 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
8 Aug 24.5 °C 47 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
9 Aug 24.6 °C 52 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Aug 25.5 °C 58 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
11 Aug 25.0 °C 78 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
12 Aug 23.5 °C 58 % 52 km/h 0.9 mm High 21
13 Aug 22.8 °C 54 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
14 Aug 23.7 °C 54 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
15 Aug 25.0 °C 49 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
16 Aug 24.5 °C 53 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
17 Aug 24.7 °C 59 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
18 Aug 24.9 °C 65 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
19 Aug 25.8 °C 50 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
20 Aug 23.9 °C 53 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
21 Aug 24.8 °C 51 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
22 Aug 25.0 °C 53 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
23 Aug 24.8 °C 62 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
24 Aug 25.4 °C 67 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
25 Aug 25.1 °C 70 % 31 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 20
26 Aug 24.9 °C 61 % 37 km/h 0.2 mm High 22
27 Aug 26.0 °C 46 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
28 Aug 25.9 °C 45 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
29 Aug 25.2 °C 55 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
30 Aug 25.5 °C 72 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
31 Aug 26.5 °C 70 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
1 Sept 25.9 °C 72 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
2 Sept 27.3 °C 63 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
3 Sept 27.8 °C 51 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
4 Sept 27.5 °C 47 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
5 Sept 27.0 °C 47 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
6 Sept 28.6 °C 35 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
7 Sept 26.1 °C 65 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Sept 26.3 °C 69 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
9 Sept 27.0 °C 51 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Sept 27.1 °C 40 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
11 Sept 26.3 °C 50 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
12 Sept 26.4 °C 64 % 24 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 21
13 Sept 26.8 °C 62 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
14 Sept 27.2 °C 55 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
15 Sept 26.6 °C 65 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
16 Sept 27.0 °C 55 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
17 Sept 27.0 °C 50 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
18 Sept 28.7 °C 39 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
19 Sept 27.3 °C 55 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
20 Sept 27.5 °C 58 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
21 Sept 27.9 °C 47 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
22 Sept 27.9 °C 45 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
23 Sept 27.6 °C 62 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
24 Sept 27.6 °C 56 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
25 Sept 27.3 °C 53 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
26 Sept 27.4 °C 53 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
27 Sept 28.1 °C 52 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
28 Sept 27.7 °C 58 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
29 Sept 27.6 °C 47 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
30 Sept 27.6 °C 49 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
1 Oct 27.9 °C 52 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
2 Oct after 28.0 °C 54 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
3 Oct after 28.3 °C 56 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
4 Oct after 27.3 °C 65 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
5 Oct after 27.6 °C 67 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
6 Oct after 29.0 °C 49 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
7 Oct after 28.5 °C 48 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
8 Oct after 28.1 °C 69 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
9 Oct after 28.3 °C 62 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
10 Oct after 28.2 °C 65 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
11 Oct after 28.5 °C 62 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 30 Jun 2018
After · 8 Oct 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 · 2,991Every 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 East Arnhem fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 7 July 2018 to 1 October 2018 (87 days). The perimeter dates it from 8 July 2018 to 1 October 2018.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 56,251 hectares (562.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered East Arnhem (56,879 ha, 1.7 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 28.7 °C, humidity dropped to 35 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 35, class 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 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Start date: 8 July 2018 → 7 July 2018.

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; 4 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 8 July 2018 to 1 October 2018. 2,991 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.