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Noisy Creek Fire, July 2017 Pend Oreille

Out · last detection 13 Sept 2017, 09:59 UTC

The fire started on 15 July 2017 in Pend Oreille, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 61 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 2,204 hectares, spread across a single county.

It is the 131th largest in Washington since 2016 (of 285 with a page). Number 242 in United States in 2017, of 619.

Burnt area
2,204ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 61days
15 Jul 2017 – 13 Sept 2017
Counties hit
1
counties
Started on
15 Jul
2017
Heat detections
471
in a single hotspot: 281 MW
Danger at start
46
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
148MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 15 Jul13 Sept
13 Sept 2017

How it evolved, day by day

16 Jul 2017 · 9 MW · 3 17 Jul 2017 · 2 MW · 1 18 Jul 2017 · 36 MW · 5 19 Jul 2017 · 25 MW · 12 22 Jul 2017 · 3 MW · 4 23 Jul 2017 · 24 MW · 4 24 Jul 2017 · 15 MW · 5 25 Jul 2017 · 0 MW · 1 26 Jul 2017 · 178 MW · 18 27 Jul 2017 · 11 MW · 10 28 Jul 2017 · 42 MW · 11 29 Jul 2017 · 129 MW · 21 30 Jul 2017 · 233 MW · 16 31 Jul 2017 · 671 MW · 44 1 Aug 2017 · 3,178 MW · 34 2 Aug 2017 · 167 MW · 24 3 Aug 2017 · 266 MW · 28 4 Aug 2017 · 166 MW · 26 5 Aug 2017 · 183 MW · 32 6 Aug 2017 · 23 MW · 14 7 Aug 2017 · 137 MW · 33 8 Aug 2017 · 27 MW · 14 9 Aug 2017 · 146 MW · 13 10 Aug 2017 · 60 MW · 7 11 Aug 2017 · 7 MW · 1 18 Aug 2017 · 1 MW · 1 22 Aug 2017 · 7 MW · 1 23 Aug 2017 · 1 MW · 1 30 Aug 2017 · 1 MW · 1 31 Aug 2017 · 184 MW · 4 1 Sept 2017 · 7 MW · 1 2 Sept 2017 · 4 MW · 3 3 Sept 2017 · 31 MW · 4 4 Sept 2017 · 37 MW · 14 5 Sept 2017 · 11 MW · 8 6 Sept 2017 · 11 MW · 5 7 Sept 2017 · 23 MW · 10 8 Sept 2017 · 11 MW · 7 9 Sept 2017 · 9 MW · 8 11 Sept 2017 · 9 MW · 2 12 Sept 2017 · 140 MW · 9 13 Sept 2017 · 12 MW · 11
16 Jul 1 Aug 23 Aug 7 Sept

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
63km/h · peak gust
6%lowest humidity

It had gone 28 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.3 mm on 18 Sept.

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 1.4% of the area of London (22 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 county

  1. Pend Oreille where it started
    2,212 ha reached on 16 Jul
    0.6 %

Burnt area inside each county, 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 2015
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2015, 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)

Started with Strong wind: 27 % of the area in United States

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
15 Jul 28.1 °C 17 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
16 Jul 21.1 °C 16 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
17 Jul 21.7 °C 15 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Jul 24.8 °C 13 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
19 Jul 26.3 °C 15 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
20 Jul 22.6 °C 20 % 63 km/h 0.5 mm Extreme 57
21 Jul 21.5 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
22 Jul 25.6 °C 28 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
23 Jul 28.2 °C 22 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
24 Jul 23.8 °C 14 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
25 Jul 26.7 °C 10 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
26 Jul 29.0 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
27 Jul 27.9 °C 19 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
28 Jul 27.9 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
29 Jul 29.2 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
30 Jul 29.2 °C 11 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
31 Jul 29.3 °C 9 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
1 Aug 29.5 °C 12 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
2 Aug 28.2 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
3 Aug 30.0 °C 12 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
4 Aug 28.6 °C 13 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
5 Aug 25.4 °C 22 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
6 Aug 28.1 °C 12 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
7 Aug 27.4 °C 18 % 38 km/h 1.6 mm Very high 49
8 Aug 28.2 °C 16 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
9 Aug 28.2 °C 16 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
10 Aug 28.1 °C 15 % 37 km/h 0.3 mm Very high 44
11 Aug 29.9 °C 13 % 31 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 45
12 Aug 27.3 °C 19 % 51 km/h 0.4 mm Extreme 56
13 Aug 15.7 °C 59 % 46 km/h 1.5 mm Moderate 16
14 Aug 19.1 °C 24 % 44 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 15
15 Aug 21.4 °C 23 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
16 Aug 23.1 °C 25 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
17 Aug 24.8 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
18 Aug 25.3 °C 20 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
19 Aug 21.3 °C 16 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
20 Aug 21.4 °C 22 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
21 Aug 23.5 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
22 Aug 27.9 °C 16 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
23 Aug 25.9 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
24 Aug 23.4 °C 12 % 63 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 57
25 Aug 20.1 °C 16 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 43
26 Aug 24.4 °C 16 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
27 Aug 28.3 °C 13 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
28 Aug 28.7 °C 9 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
29 Aug 30.5 °C 6 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Aug 28.5 °C 14 % 43 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 64
31 Aug 24.2 °C 10 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
1 Sept 26.4 °C 15 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
2 Sept 28.7 °C 14 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
3 Sept 28.7 °C 9 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
4 Sept 26.3 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
5 Sept 25.2 °C 14 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
6 Sept 27.6 °C 12 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
7 Sept 28.0 °C 17 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
8 Sept 23.6 °C 37 % 49 km/h 0.4 mm High 37
9 Sept 20.0 °C 42 % 63 km/h 0.5 mm High 32
10 Sept 19.4 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
11 Sept 23.4 °C 18 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
12 Sept 23.5 °C 22 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
13 Sept 17.0 °C 22 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
14 Sept after 12.9 °C 39 % 47 km/h 0.2 mm High 36
15 Sept after 12.7 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
16 Sept after 13.5 °C 23 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
17 Sept after 14.7 °C 23 % 44 km/h 0.8 mm High 37
18 Sept after 9.4 °C 41 % 44 km/h 3.3 mm Low 6

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 46.5, a minimum humidity of 17% and 28 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 17.

FWI at the start 46.5
Minimum humidity 17 %
Days without rain 28
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

South Yaak Fire, July 2021
5,202 ha 35 days FWI 49.9 Min. humidity 17 % 103 km away, in 2021

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 19.3 mm on 17 Aug.

What happened to them

8 days
median duration
2,163 ha
median area
76 %
went past 1,000 ha
2.7 mm
rain at the end (median; 11 of 17 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (2,204 ha against a median of 2,163 ha) and lasted 61 days, against 8 days.

In 6 of 17, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.7 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

3.3 mmfirst rain
18 Sept5 days after it ended
63km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 13 Sept, and on 18 Sept 3.3 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 11 of 17, with a median of 2.7 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 · 8 Jul 2017
After · 20 Sept 2017

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 · 471Every 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 United States

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Noisy Creek Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (15 July 2017). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 13 September 2017 (61 days from 15 July 2017), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter published by United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) is 2,204 hectares (22.0 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire only entered Pend Oreille (2,212 ha, 0.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 30.5 °C, humidity dropped to 6 % and gusts hit 63 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 64, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC, public domain), NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of United States. 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: 17. Their median duration was 8 days and their median area 2,163 ha; 76 % went past 1,000 ha. In 6 of 17, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.7 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
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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: MTBS (US Geological Survey and US Forest Service), official.
  • The official perimeter has no end date: the end is the last day with VIIRS detections inside the perimeter before a gap of more than 10 days (150 days at most), so it is approximate. 471 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 2015, 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 and in the public domain. For past years it comes from MTBS (Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity), run by the U.S. Geological Survey and the USDA Forest Service, which map it on Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery. For the current and last year it comes from WFIGS at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC): incident perimeters mapped by fire crews, aircraft and imagery. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. County boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Public Domain). The area per county is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.