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North Fork Hughes Fire, July 2017 Pend Oreille, Boundary

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2017, 10:24 UTC

The fire started on 1 July 2017 in Pend Oreille, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 79 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 1,871 hectares, spread across 2 counties.

It is the 146th largest in Washington since 2016 (of 285 with a page). Number 271 in United States in 2017, of 619.

Burnt area
1,871ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 79days
1 Jul 2017 – 17 Sept 2017
Counties hit
2
counties
Started on
1 Jul
2017
Heat detections
594
in a single hotspot: 40 MW
Danger at start
16
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
31MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 1 Jul17 Sept
17 Sept 2017

How it evolved, day by day

6 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 7 Jul 2017 · 6 MW · 3 8 Jul 2017 · 27 MW · 4 9 Jul 2017 · 47 MW · 11 10 Jul 2017 · 6 MW · 3 11 Jul 2017 · 4 MW · 2 12 Jul 2017 · 2 MW · 2 13 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 15 Jul 2017 · 5 MW · 1 16 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 19 Jul 2017 · 8 MW · 4 21 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 22 Jul 2017 · 2 MW · 3 23 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 24 Jul 2017 · 1 MW · 1 25 Jul 2017 · 6 MW · 2 26 Jul 2017 · 21 MW · 3 27 Jul 2017 · 10 MW · 5 28 Jul 2017 · 5 MW · 5 29 Jul 2017 · 8 MW · 5 30 Jul 2017 · 35 MW · 8 31 Jul 2017 · 54 MW · 11 1 Aug 2017 · 59 MW · 18 2 Aug 2017 · 220 MW · 34 3 Aug 2017 · 65 MW · 27 4 Aug 2017 · 39 MW · 16 5 Aug 2017 · 42 MW · 20 6 Aug 2017 · 21 MW · 13 7 Aug 2017 · 24 MW · 18 8 Aug 2017 · 11 MW · 7 9 Aug 2017 · 15 MW · 6 10 Aug 2017 · 4 MW · 2 11 Aug 2017 · 1 MW · 1 12 Aug 2017 · 5 MW · 3 13 Aug 2017 · 8 MW · 6 16 Aug 2017 · 0 MW · 1 18 Aug 2017 · 0 MW · 1 19 Aug 2017 · 1 MW · 1 23 Aug 2017 · 10 MW · 5 25 Aug 2017 · 23 MW · 3 26 Aug 2017 · 10 MW · 4 27 Aug 2017 · 7 MW · 5 28 Aug 2017 · 9 MW · 7 29 Aug 2017 · 54 MW · 13 30 Aug 2017 · 57 MW · 18 31 Aug 2017 · 61 MW · 15 1 Sept 2017 · 70 MW · 15 2 Sept 2017 · 30 MW · 15 3 Sept 2017 · 21 MW · 17 4 Sept 2017 · 441 MW · 48 5 Sept 2017 · 88 MW · 27 6 Sept 2017 · 140 MW · 44 7 Sept 2017 · 82 MW · 30 8 Sept 2017 · 46 MW · 39 9 Sept 2017 · 6 MW · 8 10 Sept 2017 · 1 MW · 1 11 Sept 2017 · 15 MW · 8 12 Sept 2017 · 2 MW · 1 13 Sept 2017 · 6 MW · 9 14 Sept 2017 · 4 MW · 3 15 Sept 2017 · 5 MW · 3 16 Sept 2017 · 9 MW · 2 17 Sept 2017 · 2 MW · 2
6 Jul 23 Jul 5 Aug 25 Aug 4 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

31°high
64km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity

It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.9 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 1.2% of the area of London (19 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
    1,174 ha reached on 6 Jul
    0.3 %
  2. 702 ha reached on 22 Jul
    0.2 %

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)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
1 Jul 24.8 °C 29 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
2 Jul 27.0 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
3 Jul 25.0 °C 17 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
4 Jul 25.4 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
5 Jul 28.8 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
6 Jul 30.9 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm High 26
7 Jul 31.4 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
8 Jul 29.7 °C 14 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
9 Jul 29.1 °C 14 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Jul 25.3 °C 29 % 41 km/h 3.7 mm Low 6
11 Jul 19.8 °C 48 % 30 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 3
12 Jul 25.6 °C 22 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
13 Jul 26.9 °C 20 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
14 Jul 29.5 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
15 Jul 28.5 °C 23 % 51 km/h 2.9 mm Low 10
16 Jul 21.1 °C 18 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
17 Jul 22.2 °C 19 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
18 Jul 25.0 °C 15 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
19 Jul 26.9 °C 16 % 45 km/h 0.3 mm High 30
20 Jul 23.3 °C 22 % 63 km/h 1.3 mm Moderate 21
21 Jul 21.6 °C 26 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
22 Jul 26.4 °C 29 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
23 Jul 28.9 °C 22 % 62 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
24 Jul 24.2 °C 15 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
25 Jul 27.4 °C 11 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
26 Jul 29.8 °C 11 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
27 Jul 29.0 °C 20 % 58 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 41
28 Jul 28.7 °C 12 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
29 Jul 30.4 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
30 Jul 29.9 °C 12 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
31 Jul 30.4 °C 8 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
1 Aug 30.5 °C 12 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
2 Aug 28.0 °C 27 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
3 Aug 30.9 °C 9 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
4 Aug 29.1 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
5 Aug 25.6 °C 24 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
6 Aug 28.9 °C 12 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
7 Aug 28.5 °C 18 % 34 km/h 1.4 mm High 23
8 Aug 28.4 °C 18 % 28 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
9 Aug 28.9 °C 17 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Aug 28.7 °C 15 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
11 Aug 30.5 °C 13 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
12 Aug 28.8 °C 17 % 57 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 46
13 Aug 17.3 °C 56 % 49 km/h 2.4 mm Low 6
14 Aug 18.5 °C 30 % 41 km/h 4.8 mm Very low 4
15 Aug 22.1 °C 25 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
16 Aug 23.7 °C 27 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Aug 25.4 °C 22 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
18 Aug 25.8 °C 22 % 58 km/h 0.5 mm High 32
19 Aug 22.1 °C 18 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
20 Aug 21.4 °C 24 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
21 Aug 23.6 °C 26 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
22 Aug 28.4 °C 20 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
23 Aug 26.7 °C 22 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
24 Aug 24.3 °C 15 % 64 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
25 Aug 20.8 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
26 Aug 25.1 °C 18 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
27 Aug 29.0 °C 16 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
28 Aug 29.3 °C 11 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
29 Aug 30.5 °C 12 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
30 Aug 29.0 °C 17 % 46 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 42
31 Aug 24.5 °C 13 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
1 Sept 26.9 °C 18 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
2 Sept 29.2 °C 16 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
3 Sept 29.2 °C 11 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
4 Sept 25.8 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
5 Sept 25.1 °C 18 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
6 Sept 27.6 °C 18 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
7 Sept 28.5 °C 19 % 22 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
8 Sept 24.4 °C 36 % 46 km/h 0.6 mm High 29
9 Sept 21.0 °C 45 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
10 Sept 20.0 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
11 Sept 24.4 °C 18 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
12 Sept 23.7 °C 24 % 53 km/h 0.3 mm High 37
13 Sept 17.7 °C 25 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
14 Sept 12.4 °C 42 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
15 Sept 12.0 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
16 Sept 14.3 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
17 Sept 15.3 °C 25 % 46 km/h 0.7 mm High 22
18 Sept after 9.9 °C 49 % 44 km/h 5.9 mm Very low 1

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 16.1, a minimum humidity of 29% and 2 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 29.

FWI at the start 16.1
Minimum humidity 29 %
Days without rain 2
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Central Kootenay B fire, July 2023
1,006 ha 36 days FWI 13.1 Min. humidity 29 % 83 km away, in 2023

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 16.4 mm on 22 Aug.

What happened to them

30 days
median duration
2,065 ha
median area
86 %
went past 1,000 ha
5.8 mm
rain at the end (median; 28 of 29 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (1,871 ha against a median of 2,065 ha) and lasted 79 days, against 30 days.

In 1 of 29, 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 5.8 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

5.9 mmfirst rain
18 Septthe day after it ended
64km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 17 Sept, and on 18 Sept 5.9 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 28 of 29, with a median of 5.8 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 · 24 Jun 2017
After · 24 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 · 594Every 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 North Fork Hughes Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (1 July 2017). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 17 September 2017 (79 days from 1 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 1,871 hectares (18.7 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire entered 2 counties: Pend Oreille (1,174 ha, 0.3 %); Boundary (702 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.4 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 64 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 46, class Very high.
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: 29. Their median duration was 30 days and their median area 2,065 ha; 86 % went past 1,000 ha. In 1 of 29, 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 5.8 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
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: 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. 594 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.