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CA · Canada · –

Kitimat-Stikine B fire, August 2018 Kitimat-Stikine B, Bulkley-Nechako G

Out · last detection 24 Aug 2018, 10:29 UTC

The fire started on 1 August 2018 in Kitimat-Stikine B, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 24 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 2,891 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 census subdivisions.

It is the 200th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 343 with a page). Number 117 in Canada in 2018, of 212.

Compare with…
Burnt area
2,891ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
24days
1 Aug 2018 – 24 Aug 2018
Census subdivisions hit
2
municipalities
Started on
1 Aug
2018
Heat detections
339
in a single hotspot: 319 MW
Danger at start
16
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
205MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 1 Aug24 Aug
24 Aug 2018

How it evolved, day by day

2 Aug 2018 · 4 MW · 5 6 Aug 2018 · 8 MW · 6 8 Aug 2018 · 9 MW · 6 12 Aug 2018 · 21 MW · 15 13 Aug 2018 · 14 MW · 10 16 Aug 2018 · 52 MW · 23 17 Aug 2018 · 35 MW · 22 18 Aug 2018 · 14 MW · 14 19 Aug 2018 · 13 MW · 12 20 Aug 2018 · 25 MW · 15 21 Aug 2018 · 1,912 MW · 25 22 Aug 2018 · 706 MW · 170 23 Aug 2018 · 33 MW · 4 24 Aug 2018 · 22 MW · 12
2 Aug 12 Aug 17 Aug 21 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

26°high
75km/h · peak gust
36%lowest humidity

It had gone 11 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.8 mm on 25 Aug.

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 1.8% of the area of London (29 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. Kitimat-Stikine B where it started
    2,759 ha reached on 2 Aug
    0.4 %
  2. 137 ha reached on 22 Aug
    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)
1 Aug 26.0 °C 44 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 16
2 Aug 19.3 °C 65 % 50 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 13
3 Aug 17.8 °C 74 % 42 km/h 4.6 mm Very low 3
4 Aug 21.8 °C 47 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
5 Aug 24.7 °C 39 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
6 Aug 22.4 °C 37 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
7 Aug 23.6 °C 41 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
8 Aug 22.7 °C 52 % 40 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 16
9 Aug 20.2 °C 61 % 75 km/h 18.1 mm Low 9
10 Aug 18.2 °C 47 % 44 km/h 4.5 mm Very low 0
11 Aug 21.1 °C 41 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
12 Aug 22.0 °C 46 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
13 Aug 21.7 °C 53 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
14 Aug 15.0 °C 73 % 34 km/h 1.0 mm Low 7
15 Aug 19.1 °C 40 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
16 Aug 18.7 °C 37 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
17 Aug 15.9 °C 53 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
18 Aug 19.2 °C 48 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
19 Aug 22.3 °C 36 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
20 Aug 22.7 °C 39 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
21 Aug 25.8 °C 37 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
22 Aug 17.5 °C 57 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
23 Aug 16.5 °C 56 % 39 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 11
24 Aug 14.3 °C 66 % 27 km/h 2.9 mm Low 11
25 Aug after 15.3 °C 77 % 42 km/h 3.8 mm Very low 0

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 16.2, a minimum humidity of 44% and 11 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2021: 14.

FWI at the start 16.2
Minimum humidity 44 %
Days without rain 11
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Peace River B fire, June 2021
12,058 ha 46 days FWI 18.3 Min. humidity 42 % 163 km away, in 2021

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 15.2 mm on 15 Aug.

What happened to them

Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 14. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.

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

3.8 mmfirst rain
25 Augthe day after it ended
75km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 24 Aug, and on 25 Aug 3.8 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out.

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 2021.
  • 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 · 25 Jul 2018
After · 31 Aug 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 · 339Every 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

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kitimat-Stikine B fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 1 August 2018 to 24 August 2018 (24 days). The perimeter dates it from 1 August 2018 to 22 August 2018.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 2,891 hectares (28.9 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire entered 2 census subdivisions: Kitimat-Stikine B (2,759 ha, 0.4 %); Bulkley-Nechako G (137 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 26.0 °C, humidity dropped to 36 % and gusts hit 75 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 18, class Moderate.
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.

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 1 August 2018 to 22 August 2018. 339 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.