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Maranoa fire, 17 September 2023 Maranoa, Murweh

Out · last detection 18 Oct 2023, 14:47 UTC

The fire started on 17 September 2023 in Maranoa, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 32 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 21,361 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 294th largest in Queensland since 2016 (of 1737 with a page). Number 258 in Australia in 2023, of 1235.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Maranoa · 2017Maranoa · 2025Maranoa · 2018Murweh · 2024

Burnt area
21,361ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
32days
17 Sept 2023 – 18 Oct 2023
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
17 Sept
2023
Heat detections
1,814
in a single hotspot: 86 MW
Danger at start
41
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
247MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Sept18 Oct
18 Oct 2023

How it evolved, day by day

17 Sept 2023 · 320 MW · 65 18 Sept 2023 · 1,386 MW · 131 19 Sept 2023 · 596 MW · 56 20 Sept 2023 · 227 MW · 69 21 Sept 2023 · 345 MW · 101 22 Sept 2023 · 238 MW · 80 23 Sept 2023 · 180 MW · 49 24 Sept 2023 · 385 MW · 68 25 Sept 2023 · 316 MW · 86 26 Sept 2023 · 109 MW · 40 27 Sept 2023 · 27 MW · 2 28 Sept 2023 · 244 MW · 30 29 Sept 2023 · 19 MW · 15 30 Sept 2023 · 168 MW · 70 1 Oct 2023 · 381 MW · 104 2 Oct 2023 · 974 MW · 94 3 Oct 2023 · 282 MW · 70 4 Oct 2023 · 189 MW · 19 5 Oct 2023 · 91 MW · 15 6 Oct 2023 · 96 MW · 24 7 Oct 2023 · 90 MW · 51 8 Oct 2023 · 346 MW · 67 9 Oct 2023 · 214 MW · 45 10 Oct 2023 · 11 MW · 8 11 Oct 2023 · 67 MW · 27 12 Oct 2023 · 96 MW · 25 13 Oct 2023 · 70 MW · 16 14 Oct 2023 · 56 MW · 11 15 Oct 2023 · 81 MW · 13 16 Oct 2023 · 58 MW · 26 17 Oct 2023 · 168 MW · 30 18 Oct 2023 · 65 MW · 11
17 Sept 18 Sept 22 Sept 27 Sept 2 Oct 7 Oct 12 Oct 17 Oct

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

The weather it burned in

36°high
54km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity

It had gone 29 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

24% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 5,200 ha in 2017.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 13% of the area of London (214 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. Maranoa where it started
    15,872 ha reached on 17 Sept
    0.3 %
  2. Murweh
    5,399 ha reached on 17 Sept
    0.1 %

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.

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)
17 Sept 28.6 °C 15 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
18 Sept 28.7 °C 12 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
19 Sept 27.9 °C 16 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
20 Sept 29.2 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
21 Sept 32.7 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
22 Sept 29.2 °C 8 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
23 Sept 27.0 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
24 Sept 26.0 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
25 Sept 26.7 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Sept 28.0 °C 21 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
27 Sept 30.2 °C 14 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
28 Sept 29.3 °C 18 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
29 Sept 30.2 °C 16 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
30 Sept 29.3 °C 21 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
1 Oct 29.8 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
2 Oct 30.7 °C 9 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
3 Oct 28.5 °C 25 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
4 Oct 29.1 °C 24 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
5 Oct 26.0 °C 20 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
6 Oct 26.5 °C 18 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
7 Oct 27.8 °C 19 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
8 Oct 26.7 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
9 Oct 26.3 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
10 Oct 27.1 °C 23 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
11 Oct 27.4 °C 25 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
12 Oct 30.0 °C 19 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
13 Oct 30.7 °C 15 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
14 Oct 29.6 °C 8 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
15 Oct 31.7 °C 9 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
16 Oct 32.8 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
17 Oct 30.3 °C 12 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
18 Oct 30.2 °C 19 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
19 Oct after 30.3 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 46
20 Oct after 32.0 °C 17 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
21 Oct after 32.7 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
22 Oct after 34.3 °C 18 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
23 Oct after 34.5 °C 10 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
24 Oct after 35.5 °C 13 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
25 Oct after 36.1 °C 15 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
26 Oct after 27.2 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
27 Oct after 24.4 °C 15 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
28 Oct after 27.4 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
29 Oct after 29.0 °C 19 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
30 Oct after 31.1 °C 20 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
31 Oct after 34.8 °C 13 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
1 Nov after 34.1 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
2 Nov after 32.4 °C 20 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
3 Nov after 30.7 °C 28 % 44 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 46
4 Nov after 30.5 °C 30 % 47 km/h 0.6 mm Very high 39

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 10 Sept 2023
After · 25 Oct 2023

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 18 October 2023 the air beside the fire reached 108 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 41: 2.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak108 µg/m³
Days over the guideline3 days
PM10155 µg/m³
Optical depth1.59
15161718192021222324252627282930123456789101112131415161718192021
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 · 1,814Every 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 Australia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Maranoa fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 17 September 2023 and 18 October 2023: 32 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 21,361 hectares (213.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Maranoa (15,872 ha, 0.3 %); Murweh (5,399 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.1 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 54 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 56, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Australia (geoBoundaries). 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: 000 · 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

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 000.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 1,814 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.

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 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.