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Kenora, Unorganized fire, 6 June 2019 Kenora, Unorganized

Out · last detection 7 Jun 2019, 09:07 UTC

The fire started on 6 June 2019 in Kenora, Unorganized, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 38 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 5,671 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 55th largest in Ontario since 2016 (of 144 with a page). Number 36 in Canada in 2019, of 97.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Division No. 19, Unorganized · 2020Kenora, Unorganized · 2018Kenora, Unorganized · 2019Kenora, Unorganized · 2021

Burnt area
5,671ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
38days
6 Jun 2019 – 13 Jul 2019
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
6 Jun
2019
Heat detections
36
in a single hotspot: 285 MW
Danger at start
14
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
684MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 6 Jun13 Jul
7 Jun 2019

How it evolved, day by day

6 Jun 2019 · 1,284 MW · 8 7 Jun 2019 · 83 MW · 28
6 Jun 7 Jun

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

The weather it burned in

30°high
62km/h · peak gust
19%lowest humidity

It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 13.2 mm on 14 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 3.6% of the area of London (57 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
    5,480 ha reached on 6 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)
6 Jun 22.2 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
7 Jun 28.6 °C 30 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
8 Jun 26.5 °C 52 % 62 km/h 30.1 mm Very low 1
9 Jun 14.8 °C 54 % 52 km/h 17.9 mm Very low 0
10 Jun 16.1 °C 29 % 47 km/h 0.9 mm Very low 1
11 Jun 15.4 °C 36 % 44 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 3
12 Jun 16.7 °C 29 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm Low 7
13 Jun 20.6 °C 32 % 45 km/h 1.1 mm Low 8
14 Jun 15.0 °C 37 % 38 km/h 0.7 mm Low 7
15 Jun 17.3 °C 38 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
16 Jun 18.5 °C 44 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
17 Jun 19.9 °C 37 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
18 Jun 20.4 °C 37 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
19 Jun 21.9 °C 31 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
20 Jun 24.4 °C 19 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
21 Jun 26.6 °C 26 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
22 Jun 23.4 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 20
23 Jun 24.0 °C 40 % 42 km/h 2.0 mm Low 7
24 Jun 21.2 °C 53 % 30 km/h 2.4 mm Very low 2
25 Jun 24.8 °C 45 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm Low 9
26 Jun 21.7 °C 48 % 46 km/h 1.9 mm Very low 5
27 Jun 24.5 °C 32 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
28 Jun 25.6 °C 30 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
29 Jun 26.3 °C 32 % 21 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 18
30 Jun 29.7 °C 22 % 55 km/h 0.7 mm High 31
1 Jul 26.2 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
2 Jul 25.1 °C 52 % 55 km/h 5.1 mm Very low 4
3 Jul 24.4 °C 35 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
4 Jul 24.7 °C 34 % 38 km/h 1.9 mm Low 9
5 Jul 20.9 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
6 Jul 20.1 °C 40 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
7 Jul 25.5 °C 36 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
8 Jul 26.7 °C 49 % 49 km/h 14.5 mm Very low 3
9 Jul 23.3 °C 72 % 28 km/h 8.5 mm Very low 0
10 Jul 23.4 °C 32 % 43 km/h 7.0 mm Very low 1
11 Jul 24.0 °C 43 % 47 km/h 5.9 mm Very low 1
12 Jul 19.2 °C 56 % 42 km/h 3.7 mm Very low 1
13 Jul 25.2 °C 34 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
14 Jul after 25.6 °C 64 % 37 km/h 13.2 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 14.3, a minimum humidity of 25% and 1 day without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 16.

FWI at the start 14.3
Minimum humidity 25 %
Days without rain 1
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Division No. 19, Unorganized fire, May 2020
9,026 ha 7 days FWI 15.3 Min. humidity 26 % 191 km away, in 2020

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 22.5 mm on 7 Jun.

See its page Compare with this fire

What happened to them

14 days
median duration
3,212 ha
median area
19 %
went past 10,000 ha
7.0 mm
rain at the end (median; 16 of 16 had it)

It was 1.8 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 38 days, against 14 days.

Only 4 of its 16 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 7.0 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

13.2 mmfirst rain
14 Julthe day after it ended
62km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 13 Jul, and on 14 Jul 13.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 16 of 16, with a median of 7.0 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 · 30 May 2019
After · 20 Jul 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 · 36Every 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?
It burned between 6 June 2019 and 13 July 2019: 38 days, according to the dates recorded by Canada’s CWFIS and the heat detections seen by satellite.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 5,671 hectares (56.7 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Kenora, Unorganized (5,480 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.7 °C, humidity dropped to 19 % and gusts hit 62 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 31, 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: 16. Their median duration was 14 days and their median area 3,212 ha; 19 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 4 of its 16 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 7.0 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.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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 from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 36 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.