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Gorny Ulus fire, 22 June 2021 Gorny Ulus, Kobyaysky Ulus, Namsky Ulus

Out · last detection 15 Aug 2021, 17:32 UTC

The fire started on 22 June 2021 in Gorny Ulus, Russia, and satellites saw it burning for 55 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 996,762 hectares from heat detections, spread across 4 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 largest fire in Sakha Republic since 2016 (of 1347 with a page). The largest in Russia in 2021, of 581.

Burnt area
996,762ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
55days
22 Jun 2021 – 15 Aug 2021
Municipalities hit
4
districts
Started on
22 Jun
2021
Heat detections
200,627
in a single hotspot: 1,642 MW
Danger at start
29
High · FWI index
Average daily power
49.5GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 22 Jun15 Aug
15 Aug 2021

How it evolved, day by day

22 Jun 2021 · 16 MW · 1 23 Jun 2021 · 203 MW · 21 24 Jun 2021 · 50 MW · 15 25 Jun 2021 · 1,526 MW · 96 26 Jun 2021 · 4,363 MW · 190 27 Jun 2021 · 9,214 MW · 418 28 Jun 2021 · 41,596 MW · 965 29 Jun 2021 · 3,395 MW · 223 30 Jun 2021 · 225 MW · 112 1 Jul 2021 · 9,012 MW · 806 2 Jul 2021 · 29,717 MW · 1530 3 Jul 2021 · 15,115 MW · 1501 4 Jul 2021 · 12,425 MW · 946 5 Jul 2021 · 5,063 MW · 510 6 Jul 2021 · 12,716 MW · 1250 7 Jul 2021 · 9,445 MW · 1257 8 Jul 2021 · 65,176 MW · 4618 9 Jul 2021 · 14 MW · 3 11 Jul 2021 · 7 MW · 1 12 Jul 2021 · 2,914 MW · 627 13 Jul 2021 · 3,577 MW · 779 14 Jul 2021 · 20,158 MW · 2385 15 Jul 2021 · 1,554 MW · 258 16 Jul 2021 · 3,120 MW · 770 17 Jul 2021 · 141,091 MW · 4561 18 Jul 2021 · 84,768 MW · 7296 19 Jul 2021 · 33,674 MW · 2250 20 Jul 2021 · 7,405 MW · 999 21 Jul 2021 · 610 MW · 115 22 Jul 2021 · 30,374 MW · 3996 23 Jul 2021 · 1,621 MW · 187 24 Jul 2021 · 95 MW · 96 25 Jul 2021 · 2,035 MW · 476 26 Jul 2021 · 14,384 MW · 1923 27 Jul 2021 · 69,949 MW · 6752 28 Jul 2021 · 66,763 MW · 7510 29 Jul 2021 · 44,236 MW · 6439 30 Jul 2021 · 90,795 MW · 7514 31 Jul 2021 · 30,534 MW · 5352 1 Aug 2021 · 49,223 MW · 5894 2 Aug 2021 · 564,761 MW · 29800 3 Aug 2021 · 95,897 MW · 4963 4 Aug 2021 · 12,727 MW · 2078 5 Aug 2021 · 75,625 MW · 9233 6 Aug 2021 · 69,533 MW · 6287 7 Aug 2021 · 475,526 MW · 23669 8 Aug 2021 · 179,192 MW · 16790 9 Aug 2021 · 129,215 MW · 13649 10 Aug 2021 · 120,302 MW · 6611 11 Aug 2021 · 6,246 MW · 770 12 Aug 2021 · 9,081 MW · 2595 13 Aug 2021 · 9,089 MW · 1613 14 Aug 2021 · 8,457 MW · 1799 15 Aug 2021 · 324 MW · 128
22 Jun 3 Jul 15 Jul 2 Aug

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

The weather it burned in

33°high
63km/h · peak gust
21%lowest humidity

It had gone 12 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.9 mm on 16 Aug.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 6.3 times the area of London (9,968 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. Gorny Ulus where it started
    481,267 ha reached on 22 Jun
    11 %
  2. 380,477 ha reached on 23 Jun
    3.6 %
  3. 127,087 ha reached on 6 Jul
    11 %
  4. 4,782 ha reached on 7 Aug
    1.4 %

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 area2.1 ha
Residents≈ 200

Inside the perimeter there were about 2.1 hectares of built-up land and about 200 residents (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)
22 Jun 32.5 °C 23 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
23 Jun 32.6 °C 27 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
24 Jun 27.8 °C 45 % 35 km/h 3.5 mm Very low 5
25 Jun 25.5 °C 51 % 33 km/h 0.5 mm Low 10
26 Jun 27.8 °C 33 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
27 Jun 28.7 °C 28 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
28 Jun 29.7 °C 28 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
29 Jun 29.9 °C 26 % 40 km/h 0.2 mm High 30
30 Jun 24.5 °C 60 % 30 km/h 6.8 mm Very low 1
1 Jul 32.0 °C 32 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
2 Jul 32.9 °C 21 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
3 Jul 33.3 °C 22 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
4 Jul 31.3 °C 30 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
5 Jul 26.3 °C 42 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
6 Jul 25.4 °C 48 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
7 Jul 29.0 °C 32 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Jul 31.5 °C 26 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
9 Jul 26.2 °C 53 % 40 km/h 2.5 mm Low 7
10 Jul 18.9 °C 59 % 39 km/h 0.7 mm Low 9
11 Jul 18.7 °C 33 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 16
12 Jul 22.0 °C 41 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
13 Jul 24.2 °C 34 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
14 Jul 27.4 °C 30 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
15 Jul 26.3 °C 49 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
16 Jul 21.9 °C 41 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm High 23
17 Jul 26.5 °C 26 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
18 Jul 25.0 °C 26 % 29 km/h 0.5 mm High 26
19 Jul 31.2 °C 36 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
20 Jul 27.0 °C 42 % 34 km/h 0.3 mm High 28
21 Jul 23.6 °C 53 % 42 km/h 10.7 mm Very low 3
22 Jul 25.7 °C 37 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
23 Jul 25.2 °C 46 % 14 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
24 Jul 20.4 °C 76 % 30 km/h 7.6 mm Very low 0
25 Jul 24.0 °C 47 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
26 Jul 28.7 °C 36 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
27 Jul 26.2 °C 30 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
28 Jul 23.7 °C 31 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
29 Jul 21.7 °C 29 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
30 Jul 24.0 °C 24 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
31 Jul 27.1 °C 26 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
1 Aug 29.5 °C 29 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
2 Aug 28.9 °C 21 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
3 Aug 26.4 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
4 Aug 27.0 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
5 Aug 27.6 °C 23 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
6 Aug 26.3 °C 25 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
7 Aug 24.7 °C 25 % 63 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
8 Aug 23.7 °C 36 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
9 Aug 26.4 °C 30 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Aug 28.5 °C 36 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
11 Aug 26.3 °C 55 % 31 km/h 2.3 mm Low 6
12 Aug 24.7 °C 60 % 27 km/h 1.1 mm Low 7
13 Aug 26.2 °C 39 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
14 Aug 27.8 °C 46 % 29 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 18
15 Aug 24.8 °C 64 % 38 km/h 2.5 mm Low 5
16 Aug after 21.1 °C 78 % 33 km/h 4.9 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 28.8, a minimum humidity of 23% and 12 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 22.

FWI at the start 28.8
Minimum humidity 23 %
Days without rain 12
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Namsky Ulus fire, July 2018
51,733 ha 16 days FWI 31.5 Min. humidity 22 % 72 km away, in 2018

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.1 mm on 23 Jul.

What happened to them

14 days
median duration
8,464 ha
median area
41 %
went past 10,000 ha
4.8 mm
rain at the end (median; 22 of 22 had it)

It was 117.8 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 55 days, against 14 days.

None of its 22 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.8 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

4.9 mmfirst rain
16 Augthe day after it ended
63km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 15 Aug, and on 16 Aug 4.9 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 22 of 22, with a median of 4.8 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 15 Jun 2021
After · 22 Aug 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 · 200,627Every 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 Russia

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Gorny Ulus fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 22 June 2021 and 15 August 2021: 55 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 996,762 hectares (9,967.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 4 municipalities: Gorny Ulus (481,267 ha, 11 %); Kobyaysky Ulus (380,477 ha, 3.6 %); Namsky Ulus (127,087 ha, 11 %); Yakutsk Urban District (4,782 ha, 1.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.3 °C, humidity dropped to 21 % and gusts hit 63 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 42, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Russia (geoBoundaries). 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: 22. Their median duration was 14 days and their median area 8,464 ha; 41 % went past 10,000 ha. None of its 22 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.8 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: 112 · 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.

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 112.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 11 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 200,627 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 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). 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.