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Peace River B fire, July 2023 Peace River B

Out · last detection 23 Sept 2023, 20:20 UTC

The fire started on 10 July 2023 in Peace River B, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 76 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 6,705 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 146th largest in British Columbia since 2016 (of 448 with a page). Number 223 in Canada in 2023, of 489.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Peace River B · 2024Northern Lights County · 2018Peace River B · 2025Peace River B · 2025

Burnt area
6,705ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
76days
10 Jul 2023 – 23 Sept 2023
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
10 Jul
2023
Heat detections
1,203
in a single hotspot: 404 MW
Danger at start
1
Very low · FWI index
Average daily power
564MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 10 Jul23 Sept
23 Sept 2023

How it evolved, day by day

10 Jul 2023 · 91 MW · 3 12 Jul 2023 · 44 MW · 17 26 Aug 2023 · 732 MW · 23 27 Aug 2023 · 4,755 MW · 47 28 Aug 2023 · 1,966 MW · 242 29 Aug 2023 · 316 MW · 198 30 Aug 2023 · 58 MW · 45 31 Aug 2023 · 1 MW · 1 1 Sept 2023 · 10 MW · 2 2 Sept 2023 · 358 MW · 158 3 Sept 2023 · 32 MW · 13 4 Sept 2023 · 72 MW · 1 9 Sept 2023 · 1,126 MW · 48 10 Sept 2023 · 181 MW · 58 11 Sept 2023 · 808 MW · 51 12 Sept 2023 · 434 MW · 94 13 Sept 2023 · 15 MW · 10 15 Sept 2023 · 8 MW · 4 18 Sept 2023 · 28 MW · 3 21 Sept 2023 · 3 MW · 1 22 Sept 2023 · 1,120 MW · 47 23 Sept 2023 · 254 MW · 137
10 Jul 27 Aug 28 Aug 1 Sept 9 Sept 13 Sept 22 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

29°high
61km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 6.8 mm on 24 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 4.2% of the area of London (67 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. Peace River B where it started
    6,831 ha reached on 10 Jul
    0.1 %

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 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

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)
10 Jul 20.8 °C 57 % 31 km/h 6.6 mm Very low 1
11 Jul 23.2 °C 46 % 24 km/h 9.7 mm Very low 0
12 Jul 22.8 °C 58 % 24 km/h 2.9 mm Very low 0
13 Jul 23.0 °C 44 % 23 km/h 9.5 mm Very low 0
14 Jul 23.6 °C 34 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
15 Jul 23.1 °C 39 % 19 km/h 1.2 mm Very low 3
16 Jul 22.5 °C 45 % 34 km/h 4.4 mm Very low 1
17 Jul 19.8 °C 49 % 21 km/h 3.8 mm Very low 0
18 Jul 19.2 °C 61 % 20 km/h 4.9 mm Very low 0
19 Jul 22.0 °C 53 % 27 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 1
20 Jul 26.2 °C 30 % 14 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
21 Jul 27.3 °C 31 % 21 km/h 0.1 mm Low 9
22 Jul 24.0 °C 39 % 31 km/h 3.6 mm Very low 1
23 Jul 22.5 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
24 Jul 18.9 °C 38 % 28 km/h 8.0 mm Very low 0
25 Jul 17.5 °C 68 % 37 km/h 9.4 mm Very low 0
26 Jul 15.6 °C 86 % 32 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 0
27 Jul 19.6 °C 40 % 35 km/h 0.2 mm Very low 0
28 Jul 22.3 °C 27 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 3
29 Jul 23.7 °C 21 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
30 Jul 25.0 °C 25 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
31 Jul 15.8 °C 60 % 20 km/h 12.8 mm Very low 0
1 Aug 18.0 °C 63 % 26 km/h 6.1 mm Very low 0
2 Aug 17.7 °C 54 % 18 km/h 6.3 mm Very low 0
3 Aug 19.3 °C 51 % 26 km/h 8.2 mm Very low 0
4 Aug 21.2 °C 37 % 32 km/h 3.7 mm Very low 0
5 Aug 25.1 °C 37 % 24 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 2
6 Aug 25.7 °C 35 % 28 km/h 1.6 mm Very low 2
7 Aug 23.3 °C 54 % 32 km/h 7.6 mm Very low 0
8 Aug 15.3 °C 91 % 28 km/h 11.5 mm Very low 0
9 Aug 19.9 °C 56 % 24 km/h 9.0 mm Very low 0
10 Aug 14.0 °C 79 % 46 km/h 10.3 mm Very low 0
11 Aug 19.2 °C 49 % 28 km/h 4.7 mm Very low 0
12 Aug 21.8 °C 32 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
13 Aug 26.2 °C 34 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
14 Aug 20.1 °C 30 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
15 Aug 19.3 °C 48 % 53 km/h 1.3 mm Very low 3
16 Aug 23.8 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
17 Aug 17.9 °C 47 % 34 km/h 1.1 mm Very low 4
18 Aug 10.4 °C 62 % 41 km/h 1.6 mm Very low 2
19 Aug 20.0 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm Low 5
20 Aug 22.8 °C 29 % 23 km/h 0.1 mm Low 10
21 Aug 22.5 °C 26 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
22 Aug 22.0 °C 34 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
23 Aug 19.4 °C 44 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
24 Aug 22.1 °C 35 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
25 Aug 24.9 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
26 Aug 25.2 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
27 Aug 26.9 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
28 Aug 29.3 °C 31 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
29 Aug 26.3 °C 37 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
30 Aug 23.5 °C 47 % 23 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 5
31 Aug 20.5 °C 36 % 43 km/h 0.7 mm Low 11
1 Sept 25.7 °C 22 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
2 Sept 18.7 °C 27 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Sept 10.3 °C 51 % 49 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 5
4 Sept 16.0 °C 30 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
5 Sept 10.5 °C 66 % 30 km/h 7.2 mm Very low 0
6 Sept 14.2 °C 47 % 30 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 2
7 Sept 17.1 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 4
8 Sept 18.1 °C 34 % 15 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
9 Sept 20.1 °C 28 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
10 Sept 23.2 °C 26 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
11 Sept 19.6 °C 29 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
12 Sept 19.0 °C 37 % 40 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 18
13 Sept 13.4 °C 47 % 61 km/h 1.6 mm Low 6
14 Sept 17.4 °C 29 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
15 Sept 23.4 °C 13 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
16 Sept 17.2 °C 30 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Sept 17.9 °C 34 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
18 Sept 14.2 °C 36 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
19 Sept 13.7 °C 37 % 25 km/h 1.3 mm Low 7
20 Sept 15.0 °C 35 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
21 Sept 19.4 °C 39 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
22 Sept 23.2 °C 27 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
23 Sept 17.1 °C 34 % 27 km/h 1.4 mm Low 9
24 Sept after 9.1 °C 83 % 33 km/h 6.8 mm Very low 0

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 3 Jul 2023
After · 30 Sept 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 24 September 2023 the air beside the fire reached 1,617 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 700: 47 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak1,617 µg/m³
Days over the guideline50 days
PM102,310 µg/m³
Optical depth10.25
8910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930311234567891011121314151617181920212223242526
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 · 1,203Every 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 Peace River B fire last?
It burned between 10 July 2023 and 23 September 2023: 76 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 6,705 hectares (67.0 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Peace River B (6,831 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.3 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 61 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 33, 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 · 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 911.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 1,203 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 2025, 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.