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Whitewater Fire, July 2017 Marion, Linn

Out · last detection 16 Sept 2017, 10:44 UTC

The fire started on 23 July 2017 in Marion, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 56 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 4,755 hectares, spread across 2 counties.

It is the 115th largest in Oregon since 2016 (of 327 with a page). Number 149 in United States in 2017, of 619.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Bull Complex · 2021Lionshead · 2020Green Ridge 0684 Cs · 2020Austin · 2026

Burnt area
4,755ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 56days
23 Jul 2017 – 16 Sept 2017
Counties hit
2
counties
Started on
23 Jul
2017
Heat detections
1,122
in a single hotspot: 329 MW
Danger at start
37
High · FWI index
Average daily power
233MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 23 Jul16 Sept
16 Sept 2017

How it evolved, day by day

24 Jul 2017 · 33 MW · 2 25 Jul 2017 · 4 MW · 2 26 Jul 2017 · 3 MW · 3 27 Jul 2017 · 11 MW · 4 30 Jul 2017 · 75 MW · 11 31 Jul 2017 · 13 MW · 4 1 Aug 2017 · 68 MW · 16 2 Aug 2017 · 6,047 MW · 171 3 Aug 2017 · 1,196 MW · 230 4 Aug 2017 · 309 MW · 68 5 Aug 2017 · 84 MW · 24 6 Aug 2017 · 17 MW · 8 8 Aug 2017 · 14 MW · 8 9 Aug 2017 · 46 MW · 3 10 Aug 2017 · 48 MW · 16 11 Aug 2017 · 26 MW · 17 12 Aug 2017 · 3 MW · 2 17 Aug 2017 · 57 MW · 8 18 Aug 2017 · 12 MW · 4 19 Aug 2017 · 412 MW · 10 20 Aug 2017 · 25 MW · 13 21 Aug 2017 · 17 MW · 11 22 Aug 2017 · 129 MW · 35 23 Aug 2017 · 94 MW · 33 24 Aug 2017 · 310 MW · 17 25 Aug 2017 · 25 MW · 19 26 Aug 2017 · 33 MW · 21 27 Aug 2017 · 52 MW · 36 28 Aug 2017 · 137 MW · 65 29 Aug 2017 · 98 MW · 28 30 Aug 2017 · 17 MW · 11 31 Aug 2017 · 3 MW · 2 1 Sept 2017 · 46 MW · 11 2 Sept 2017 · 62 MW · 25 3 Sept 2017 · 151 MW · 33 4 Sept 2017 · 222 MW · 30 5 Sept 2017 · 256 MW · 38 6 Sept 2017 · 40 MW · 12 7 Sept 2017 · 28 MW · 10 11 Sept 2017 · 28 MW · 7 12 Sept 2017 · 81 MW · 19 13 Sept 2017 · 65 MW · 20 14 Sept 2017 · 57 MW · 7 15 Sept 2017 · 33 MW · 7 16 Sept 2017 · 2 MW · 1
24 Jul 2 Aug 10 Aug 21 Aug 28 Aug 4 Sept 14 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

36°high
51km/h · peak gust
6%lowest humidity

It had gone 26 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.5 mm on 17 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 3% of the area of London (48 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. Marion where it started
    3,417 ha reached on 24 Jul
    1.1 %
  2. Linn
    1,314 ha reached on 3 Aug
    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.

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)
23 Jul 30.6 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
24 Jul 30.4 °C 18 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Jul 30.9 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
26 Jul 28.7 °C 20 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
27 Jul 25.6 °C 22 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
28 Jul 27.6 °C 19 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
29 Jul 28.4 °C 14 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
30 Jul 29.3 °C 15 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
31 Jul 33.3 °C 8 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
1 Aug 34.4 °C 10 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
2 Aug 33.9 °C 10 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
3 Aug 34.9 °C 10 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
4 Aug 32.3 °C 13 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
5 Aug 30.2 °C 10 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
6 Aug 29.5 °C 14 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
7 Aug 30.3 °C 16 % 39 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 46
8 Aug 32.7 °C 11 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 46
9 Aug 32.9 °C 12 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
10 Aug 31.7 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
11 Aug 29.1 °C 23 % 31 km/h 1.4 mm High 26
12 Aug 25.1 °C 34 % 51 km/h 0.2 mm High 30
13 Aug 18.4 °C 53 % 44 km/h 3.5 mm Low 6
14 Aug 20.8 °C 23 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
15 Aug 23.8 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
16 Aug 26.9 °C 28 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
17 Aug 26.4 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
18 Aug 26.0 °C 20 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
19 Aug 24.3 °C 22 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
20 Aug 25.6 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Aug 28.0 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
22 Aug 28.9 °C 23 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
23 Aug 25.1 °C 31 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
24 Aug 21.6 °C 29 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
25 Aug 25.7 °C 12 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
26 Aug 29.7 °C 10 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
27 Aug 31.5 °C 10 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Aug 34.0 °C 8 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
29 Aug 31.7 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
30 Aug 24.2 °C 22 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
31 Aug 28.0 °C 16 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
1 Sept 34.1 °C 6 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
2 Sept 35.5 °C 8 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
3 Sept 33.9 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
4 Sept 30.6 °C 15 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
5 Sept 30.5 °C 19 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
6 Sept 27.9 °C 24 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
7 Sept 26.5 °C 35 % 34 km/h 3.2 mm Low 9
8 Sept 21.6 °C 50 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 14
9 Sept 23.2 °C 32 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
10 Sept 26.3 °C 20 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
11 Sept 30.0 °C 12 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
12 Sept 28.4 °C 18 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
13 Sept 21.8 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
14 Sept 19.5 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.5 mm High 36
15 Sept 20.4 °C 20 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
16 Sept 18.2 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
17 Sept after 16.7 °C 31 % 68 km/h 3.5 mm Low 8

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 16 Jul 2017
After · 23 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 · 1,122Every 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 Whitewater Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (23 July 2017). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 16 September 2017 (56 days from 23 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 4,755 hectares (47.6 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire entered 2 counties: Marion (3,417 ha, 1.1 %); Linn (1,314 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.5 °C, humidity dropped to 6 % and gusts hit 51 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 53, 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.

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.

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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. 1,122 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 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.