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Kenora, Unorganized fire, 16 June 2018 Kenora, Unorganized

Out · last detection 11 Jul 2018, 09:12 UTC

The fire started on 16 June 2018 in Kenora, Unorganized, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 26 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 23,767 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 17th largest in Ontario since 2016 (of 144 with a page). Number 15 in Canada in 2018, of 212.

Burnt area
23,767ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
26days
16 Jun 2018 – 11 Jul 2018
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
16 Jun
2018
Heat detections
1,215
in a single hotspot: 442 MW
Danger at start
14
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
1.8GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 16 Jun11 Jul
11 Jul 2018

How it evolved, day by day

17 Jun 2018 · 6,486 MW · 207 18 Jun 2018 · 285 MW · 58 19 Jun 2018 · 6,694 MW · 189 20 Jun 2018 · 640 MW · 97 21 Jun 2018 · 4,123 MW · 112 24 Jun 2018 · 219 MW · 9 25 Jun 2018 · 1,621 MW · 79 26 Jun 2018 · 440 MW · 80 27 Jun 2018 · 106 MW · 70 28 Jun 2018 · 3,068 MW · 173 29 Jun 2018 · 244 MW · 134 10 Jul 2018 · 7 MW · 2 11 Jul 2018 · 7 MW · 5
19 Jun 25 Jun 28 Jun 11 Jul

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

The weather it burned in

34°high
74km/h · peak gust
17%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.8 mm on 12 Jul.

This area had burned before

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

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 15% of the area of London (238 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 census subdivision

  1. Kenora, Unorganized where it started
    23,445 ha reached on 17 Jun
    0.0 %

Burnt area inside each census subdivision, from crossing the official 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)
16 Jun 26.2 °C 31 % 43 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 14
17 Jun 25.0 °C 30 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 20
18 Jun 26.4 °C 29 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
19 Jun 31.1 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
20 Jun 28.1 °C 17 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
21 Jun 33.8 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 33
22 Jun 20.4 °C 66 % 31 km/h 5.3 mm Very low 3
23 Jun 16.7 °C 53 % 48 km/h 2.3 mm Very low 2
24 Jun 25.1 °C 21 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
25 Jun 30.0 °C 32 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
26 Jun 30.5 °C 43 % 32 km/h 2.7 mm Moderate 13
27 Jun 24.6 °C 34 % 48 km/h 10.6 mm Very low 0
28 Jun 27.7 °C 23 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
29 Jun 29.9 °C 28 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
30 Jun 23.5 °C 49 % 56 km/h 6.0 mm Moderate 20
1 Jul 24.5 °C 46 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
2 Jul 15.9 °C 68 % 39 km/h 10.0 mm Very low 0
3 Jul 20.1 °C 41 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
4 Jul 23.6 °C 57 % 66 km/h 6.8 mm Very low 2
5 Jul 21.8 °C 30 % 71 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 2
6 Jul 28.2 °C 28 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
7 Jul 33.9 °C 41 % 74 km/h 3.9 mm Moderate 19
8 Jul 27.4 °C 38 % 68 km/h 0.7 mm Low 10
9 Jul 22.4 °C 39 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
10 Jul 28.1 °C 25 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
11 Jul 27.9 °C 40 % 62 km/h 1.9 mm High 26
12 Jul after 26.0 °C 55 % 60 km/h 2.8 mm Low 9

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 13.5, a minimum humidity of 31% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 25.

FWI at the start 13.5
Minimum humidity 31 %
Days without rain 0
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Kenora, Unorganized fire, July 2021
3,801 ha 10 days FWI 11.8 Min. humidity 32 % 30 km away, in 2021

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 5.8 mm on 28 Jul.

What happened to them

25 days
median duration
4,037 ha
median area
32 %
went past 10,000 ha
9.1 mm
rain at the end (median; 25 of 25 had it)

It was 5.9 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 26 days, against 25 days.

Only 3 of its 25 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 9.1 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

2.8 mmfirst rain
12 Julthe day after it ended
74km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 11 Jul, and on 12 Jul 2.8 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 25 of 25, with a median of 9.1 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 · 9 Jun 2018
After · 18 Jul 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 · 1,215Every 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 Canada

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kenora, Unorganized fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 16 June 2018 to 11 July 2018 (26 days). The perimeter dates it from 16 June 2018 to 10 July 2018.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 23,767 hectares (237.7 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Kenora, Unorganized (23,445 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.9 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 74 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 33, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of Canada’s CWFIS (NBAC, Natural Resources Canada) or, for the current season and until NBAC publishes it, the one rebuilt by GWIS (Copernicus); from NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots; and from the administrative boundaries of Canada. 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: 25. Their median duration was 25 days and their median area 4,037 ha; 32 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 3 of its 25 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 9.1 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: 911 · 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 911.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 16 June 2018 to 10 July 2018. 1,215 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 is official: it comes from the National Burned Area Composite (NBAC) of the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS), Natural Resources Canada, which maps it on satellite imagery and publishes it under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Until NBAC publishes the current season, this year’s fires carry the perimeter rebuilt from heat detections by GWIS (Copernicus, CC BY 4.0), which is approximate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Census subdivision boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). The area per census subdivision is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.