Skip to content
worldfires
en
AU · Australia · →

West Daly fire, 10 July 2021 West Daly, Victoria Daly

Out · last detection 22 Sept 2021, 04:52 UTC

The fire started on 10 July 2021 in West Daly, Australia, and satellites saw it burning for 74 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 128,854 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the 31th largest in Northern Territory since 2016 (of 3511 with a page). Number 2 in Australia in 2021, of 460.

Compare with…

Suggestions: West Daly · 2016West Daly · 2019West Daly · 2018West Daly · 2026

Burnt area
128,854ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
74days
10 Jul 2021 – 21 Sept 2021
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
10 Jul
2021
Heat detections
5,433
in a single hotspot: 284 MW
Danger at start
39
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
654MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 10 Jul21 Sept
22 Sept 2021

How it evolved, day by day

10 Jul 2021 · 10 MW · 3 11 Jul 2021 · 46 MW · 7 12 Jul 2021 · 126 MW · 21 13 Jul 2021 · 52 MW · 18 14 Jul 2021 · 61 MW · 20 15 Jul 2021 · 141 MW · 12 16 Jul 2021 · 14 MW · 7 17 Jul 2021 · 200 MW · 42 18 Jul 2021 · 34 MW · 8 19 Jul 2021 · 73 MW · 23 20 Jul 2021 · 112 MW · 34 21 Jul 2021 · 73 MW · 21 22 Jul 2021 · 160 MW · 51 23 Jul 2021 · 350 MW · 58 24 Jul 2021 · 1,084 MW · 78 25 Jul 2021 · 727 MW · 67 26 Jul 2021 · 399 MW · 48 27 Jul 2021 · 70 MW · 16 28 Jul 2021 · 1,620 MW · 66 29 Jul 2021 · 2,105 MW · 101 30 Jul 2021 · 2,697 MW · 98 31 Jul 2021 · 244 MW · 51 1 Aug 2021 · 1,213 MW · 36 2 Aug 2021 · 80 MW · 14 3 Aug 2021 · 1,071 MW · 61 4 Aug 2021 · 23 MW · 5 5 Aug 2021 · 624 MW · 106 6 Aug 2021 · 2,403 MW · 173 7 Aug 2021 · 1,282 MW · 153 8 Aug 2021 · 3,097 MW · 264 9 Aug 2021 · 1,419 MW · 247 10 Aug 2021 · 985 MW · 183 11 Aug 2021 · 713 MW · 107 12 Aug 2021 · 500 MW · 55 13 Aug 2021 · 954 MW · 108 14 Aug 2021 · 297 MW · 66 15 Aug 2021 · 422 MW · 80 16 Aug 2021 · 2,805 MW · 179 17 Aug 2021 · 991 MW · 110 18 Aug 2021 · 2,255 MW · 230 19 Aug 2021 · 660 MW · 191 20 Aug 2021 · 383 MW · 76 21 Aug 2021 · 1,027 MW · 113 22 Aug 2021 · 1,257 MW · 98 23 Aug 2021 · 890 MW · 109 24 Aug 2021 · 218 MW · 54 25 Aug 2021 · 1,105 MW · 165 26 Aug 2021 · 1,080 MW · 136 27 Aug 2021 · 1,052 MW · 134 28 Aug 2021 · 790 MW · 153 29 Aug 2021 · 1,226 MW · 227 30 Aug 2021 · 466 MW · 63 31 Aug 2021 · 712 MW · 89 1 Sept 2021 · 491 MW · 71 2 Sept 2021 · 659 MW · 65 3 Sept 2021 · 110 MW · 19 5 Sept 2021 · 59 MW · 13 6 Sept 2021 · 153 MW · 34 7 Sept 2021 · 129 MW · 44 8 Sept 2021 · 155 MW · 36 9 Sept 2021 · 1,250 MW · 148 10 Sept 2021 · 869 MW · 150 11 Sept 2021 · 278 MW · 42 12 Sept 2021 · 375 MW · 39 13 Sept 2021 · 96 MW · 29 14 Sept 2021 · 193 MW · 28 15 Sept 2021 · 19 MW · 11 16 Sept 2021 · 50 MW · 12 17 Sept 2021 · 122 MW · 8 18 Sept 2021 · 25 MW · 6 20 Sept 2021 · 137 MW · 24 21 Sept 2021 · 75 MW · 15 22 Sept 2021 · 64 MW · 4
10 Jul 21 Jul 1 Aug 8 Aug 12 Aug 23 Aug 3 Sept 15 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

37°high
59km/h · peak gust
11%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.0 mm on 29 Sept.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 81% of the area of London (1,289 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. West Daly where it started
    116,156 ha reached on 10 Jul
    8.2 %
  2. Victoria Daly
    13,526 ha reached on 18 Aug
    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.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2020
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2020, 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)
10 Jul 32.7 °C 26 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
11 Jul 32.3 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
12 Jul 32.3 °C 15 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
13 Jul 31.3 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
14 Jul 32.4 °C 18 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
15 Jul 33.6 °C 20 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
16 Jul 32.3 °C 24 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
17 Jul 32.0 °C 22 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
18 Jul 30.9 °C 27 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
19 Jul 31.5 °C 16 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
20 Jul 31.4 °C 16 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
21 Jul 31.9 °C 13 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
22 Jul 33.4 °C 14 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
23 Jul 33.7 °C 23 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
24 Jul 34.2 °C 19 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
25 Jul 33.0 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
26 Jul 32.7 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
27 Jul 32.6 °C 34 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
28 Jul 34.3 °C 27 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
29 Jul 35.0 °C 23 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
30 Jul 35.5 °C 23 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
31 Jul 34.3 °C 29 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
1 Aug 33.4 °C 32 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
2 Aug 31.7 °C 40 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
3 Aug 34.5 °C 23 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
4 Aug 31.9 °C 28 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
5 Aug 29.7 °C 15 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
6 Aug 28.9 °C 11 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
7 Aug 29.0 °C 13 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
8 Aug 29.6 °C 16 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
9 Aug 31.9 °C 15 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
10 Aug 33.1 °C 27 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
11 Aug 34.4 °C 26 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
12 Aug 34.4 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
13 Aug 33.4 °C 16 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
14 Aug 32.2 °C 27 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
15 Aug 33.5 °C 23 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
16 Aug 33.5 °C 15 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
17 Aug 31.4 °C 14 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
18 Aug 32.5 °C 17 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
19 Aug 33.1 °C 21 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
20 Aug 33.4 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
21 Aug 33.2 °C 20 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
22 Aug 34.5 °C 15 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
23 Aug 34.9 °C 19 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
24 Aug 34.0 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
25 Aug 32.2 °C 12 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
26 Aug 33.9 °C 14 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
27 Aug 33.9 °C 13 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
28 Aug 34.4 °C 12 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
29 Aug 35.3 °C 11 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
30 Aug 35.7 °C 12 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
31 Aug 35.7 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
1 Sept 36.7 °C 19 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
2 Sept 33.2 °C 40 % 25 km/h 0.4 mm High 34
3 Sept 33.6 °C 40 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
4 Sept 32.3 °C 47 % 26 km/h 1.4 mm Moderate 16
5 Sept 31.7 °C 35 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
6 Sept 30.8 °C 22 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
7 Sept 30.9 °C 16 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
8 Sept 33.7 °C 15 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
9 Sept 34.4 °C 18 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
10 Sept 34.4 °C 21 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
11 Sept 36.0 °C 20 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
12 Sept 35.2 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
13 Sept 34.6 °C 34 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
14 Sept 36.6 °C 25 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
15 Sept 34.4 °C 37 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
16 Sept 35.8 °C 28 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
17 Sept 35.6 °C 25 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
18 Sept 36.5 °C 14 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
19 Sept 36.9 °C 15 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
20 Sept 36.6 °C 19 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
21 Sept 36.5 °C 15 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
22 Sept after 32.9 °C 8 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
23 Sept after 32.6 °C 5 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
24 Sept after 34.5 °C 14 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
25 Sept after 34.2 °C 24 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
26 Sept after 35.8 °C 23 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
27 Sept after 35.5 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
28 Sept after 34.9 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
29 Sept after 34.5 °C 42 % 30 km/h 1.0 mm High 24

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 3 Jul 2021
After · 28 Sept 2021

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 · 5,433Every 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 West Daly fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 10 July 2021 to 21 September 2021 (74 days). The perimeter dates it from 10 July 2021 to 16 September 2021.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 128,854 hectares (1,288.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: West Daly (116,156 ha, 8.2 %); Victoria Daly (13,526 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.9 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 59 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 66, 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 16 September 2021 → 21 September 2021.

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; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 10 July 2021 to 16 September 2021. 5,433 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 2020, 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 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.