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Mackenzie County fire, 2 July 2024 Mackenzie County

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2024, 11:17 UTC

The fire started on 2 July 2024 in Mackenzie County, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 78 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 29,428 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 32th largest in Alberta since 2016 (of 243 with a page). Number 32 in Canada in 2024, of 291.

Burnt area
29,428ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
78days
2 Jul 2024 – 17 Sept 2024
Municipalities hit
1
municipalities
Started on
2 Jul
2024
Heat detections
4,577
in a single hotspot: 430 MW
Danger at start
0
Very low · FWI index
Energy released
63.9GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

17 Sept 2024
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 2 Jul17 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

2456789161718192021222930312678910111213151920222324252630311671114151617

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

The weather it burned in

32°high
58km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.4 mm on 21 Sept.

This area had burned before

0% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 92 ha in 2018.

What happened to each town

  1. Mackenzie County where it started
    29,879 ha reached on 2 Jul
    0.4 %

Burnt area inside each census subdivision, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

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)
2 Jul 20.9 °C 66 % 35 km/h 24.1 mm Very low 0
3 Jul 24.4 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 2
4 Jul 26.3 °C 33 % 44 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 2
5 Jul 24.3 °C 26 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
6 Jul 23.4 °C 37 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
7 Jul 28.1 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
8 Jul 28.2 °C 25 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
9 Jul 32.2 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
10 Jul 30.4 °C 28 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm High 25
11 Jul 19.2 °C 49 % 54 km/h 2.3 mm Low 6
12 Jul 22.6 °C 33 % 33 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 11
13 Jul 21.8 °C 44 % 36 km/h 1.2 mm Low 7
14 Jul 25.0 °C 30 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
15 Jul 29.0 °C 31 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
16 Jul 29.0 °C 27 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
17 Jul 31.0 °C 25 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
18 Jul 31.1 °C 26 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
19 Jul 31.0 °C 30 % 42 km/h 0.7 mm High 26
20 Jul 27.0 °C 52 % 31 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 15
21 Jul 28.8 °C 39 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
22 Jul 28.8 °C 43 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
23 Jul 22.0 °C 44 % 58 km/h 16.6 mm Very low 3
24 Jul 20.4 °C 39 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 5
25 Jul 23.2 °C 34 % 25 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 11
26 Jul 23.5 °C 37 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
27 Jul 26.9 °C 33 % 30 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 18
28 Jul 23.8 °C 29 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
29 Jul 22.0 °C 30 % 36 km/h 4.2 mm Very low 4
30 Jul 23.5 °C 34 % 50 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 14
31 Jul 21.7 °C 39 % 37 km/h 1.1 mm Low 10
1 Aug 19.7 °C 46 % 38 km/h 3.8 mm Very low 3
2 Aug 22.6 °C 30 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
3 Aug 23.2 °C 33 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 14
4 Aug 17.1 °C 64 % 28 km/h 7.4 mm Very low 0
5 Aug 22.8 °C 36 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
6 Aug 23.4 °C 37 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
7 Aug 24.6 °C 39 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
8 Aug 25.4 °C 35 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
9 Aug 26.4 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
10 Aug 28.5 °C 36 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
11 Aug 29.4 °C 33 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
12 Aug 30.1 °C 30 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
13 Aug 19.5 °C 54 % 42 km/h 8.3 mm Very low 1
14 Aug 17.4 °C 66 % 23 km/h 1.7 mm Very low 1
15 Aug 16.5 °C 51 % 26 km/h 2.4 mm Very low 1
16 Aug 19.0 °C 41 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
17 Aug 23.0 °C 34 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
18 Aug 22.9 °C 39 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
19 Aug 24.1 °C 30 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
20 Aug 23.5 °C 39 % 48 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 20
21 Aug 15.4 °C 48 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
22 Aug 19.9 °C 47 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
23 Aug 19.6 °C 36 % 42 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 17
24 Aug 18.0 °C 46 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
25 Aug 20.6 °C 44 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
26 Aug 21.1 °C 46 % 37 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 13
27 Aug 15.9 °C 73 % 39 km/h 7.1 mm Very low 0
28 Aug 21.8 °C 35 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
29 Aug 18.2 °C 39 % 51 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 11
30 Aug 18.9 °C 38 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 13
31 Aug 20.3 °C 37 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
1 Sept 23.8 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
2 Sept 16.5 °C 55 % 32 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 3
3 Sept 14.6 °C 64 % 27 km/h 1.4 mm Very low 2
4 Sept 18.9 °C 33 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
5 Sept 22.9 °C 43 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
6 Sept 23.3 °C 35 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
7 Sept 23.3 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
8 Sept 14.8 °C 51 % 22 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 1
9 Sept 15.6 °C 47 % 46 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 4
10 Sept 15.9 °C 40 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 5
11 Sept 16.1 °C 45 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
12 Sept 18.3 °C 36 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
13 Sept 19.1 °C 44 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
14 Sept 19.2 °C 36 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
15 Sept 17.4 °C 47 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 14
16 Sept 18.0 °C 37 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
17 Sept 16.5 °C 46 % 31 km/h 8.1 mm Very low 1
18 Sept after 16.0 °C 31 % 38 km/h 1.5 mm Very low 3
19 Sept after 15.8 °C 39 % 32 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 5
20 Sept after 10.8 °C 63 % 27 km/h 2.4 mm Very low 1
21 Sept after 7.9 °C 83 % 44 km/h 1.4 mm Very low 1

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 25 Jun 2024
After · 24 Sept 2024

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 21 July 2024 the air beside the fire reached 1,866 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 825: 55 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak1,866 µg/m³
Days over the guideline45 days
PM102,667 µg/m³
Optical depth11.81
3012345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930311234567891011121314151617181920
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 4,577Every 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 Mackenzie County fire last?
It burned between 2 July 2024 and 17 September 2024: 78 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 29,428 hectares (294.3 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Mackenzie County (29,879 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.2 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 58 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 26, 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.

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

Satellite cross-check

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.

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.