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CA · Canada · –

Wood Buffalo fire, 12 June 2022 Wood Buffalo

Out · last detection 9 Oct 2022, 09:31 UTC

The fire started on 12 June 2022 in Wood Buffalo, Canada, and satellites saw it burning for 119 days. Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 3,460 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single census subdivision.

It is the 113th largest in Alberta since 2016 (of 176 with a page). Number 86 in Canada in 2022, of 197.

Burnt area
3,460ha
official perimeter (CWFIS)
Duration
119days
12 Jun 2022 – 8 Oct 2022
Census subdivisions hit
1
municipalities
Started on
12 Jun
2022
Heat detections
349
in a single hotspot: 462 MW
Danger at start
8
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
118MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 12 Jun8 Oct
9 Oct 2022

How it evolved, day by day

15 Jun 2022 · 464 MW · 23 16 Jun 2022 · 124 MW · 19 17 Jun 2022 · 5 MW · 5 1 Jul 2022 · 24 MW · 2 2 Jul 2022 · 5 MW · 2 3 Jul 2022 · 4 MW · 2 4 Jul 2022 · 207 MW · 3 5 Jul 2022 · 232 MW · 10 6 Jul 2022 · 20 MW · 4 7 Jul 2022 · 1,214 MW · 13 8 Jul 2022 · 144 MW · 75 9 Jul 2022 · 206 MW · 27 18 Aug 2022 · 26 MW · 2 19 Aug 2022 · 126 MW · 9 20 Aug 2022 · 54 MW · 6 21 Aug 2022 · 59 MW · 25 22 Aug 2022 · 117 MW · 10 23 Aug 2022 · 35 MW · 18 24 Aug 2022 · 143 MW · 7 25 Aug 2022 · 55 MW · 9 26 Aug 2022 · 241 MW · 22 27 Aug 2022 · 15 MW · 14 31 Aug 2022 · 4 MW · 1 15 Sept 2022 · 13 MW · 1 2 Oct 2022 · 150 MW · 13 3 Oct 2022 · 62 MW · 12 4 Oct 2022 · 3 MW · 1 5 Oct 2022 · 2 MW · 1 6 Oct 2022 · 18 MW · 3 7 Oct 2022 · 4 MW · 3 8 Oct 2022 · 9 MW · 6 9 Oct 2022 · 1 MW · 1
15 Jun 7 Jul 20 Aug 27 Aug 6 Oct

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
66km/h · peak gust
17%lowest humidity

It had gone 13 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.9 mm on 11 Oct.

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 2.2% of the area of London (35 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. Wood Buffalo where it started
    3,664 ha reached on 15 Jun
    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 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)
12 Jun 24.3 °C 31 % 25 km/h 1.5 mm Low 8
13 Jun 26.1 °C 21 % 18 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 18
14 Jun 22.8 °C 24 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
15 Jun 22.7 °C 28 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
16 Jun 20.8 °C 31 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
17 Jun 17.2 °C 57 % 40 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 12
18 Jun 16.2 °C 64 % 25 km/h 5.8 mm Very low 0
19 Jun 16.3 °C 77 % 24 km/h 8.6 mm Very low 0
20 Jun 23.6 °C 23 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
21 Jun 23.5 °C 22 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
22 Jun 16.6 °C 45 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
23 Jun 17.0 °C 35 % 33 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 12
24 Jun 21.0 °C 33 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
25 Jun 21.3 °C 43 % 32 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 3
26 Jun 15.2 °C 52 % 46 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 3
27 Jun 16.1 °C 40 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 4
28 Jun 20.7 °C 34 % 37 km/h 1.7 mm Very low 5
29 Jun 15.4 °C 29 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
30 Jun 15.0 °C 39 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
1 Jul 17.2 °C 35 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
2 Jul 18.9 °C 44 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
3 Jul 16.6 °C 45 % 28 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 13
4 Jul 18.0 °C 37 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
5 Jul 25.3 °C 17 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
6 Jul 20.7 °C 28 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
7 Jul 24.4 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Jul 22.5 °C 45 % 37 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 5
9 Jul 22.0 °C 41 % 31 km/h 2.9 mm Very low 3
10 Jul 21.7 °C 47 % 20 km/h 5.4 mm Very low 1
11 Jul 23.4 °C 46 % 22 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 4
12 Jul 26.1 °C 29 % 49 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 17
13 Jul 21.7 °C 38 % 41 km/h 1.6 mm Low 9
14 Jul 20.1 °C 43 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
15 Jul 26.6 °C 29 % 20 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 16
16 Jul 21.2 °C 53 % 25 km/h 2.3 mm Very low 3
17 Jul 23.1 °C 43 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
18 Jul 26.2 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 16
19 Jul 20.8 °C 48 % 27 km/h 10.2 mm Very low 1
20 Jul 15.3 °C 79 % 49 km/h 4.2 mm Very low 0
21 Jul 13.5 °C 74 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
22 Jul 19.9 °C 37 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
23 Jul 20.4 °C 40 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
24 Jul 18.5 °C 60 % 34 km/h 9.3 mm Very low 0
25 Jul 18.4 °C 54 % 53 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 2
26 Jul 20.6 °C 47 % 26 km/h 0.5 mm Very low 4
27 Jul 22.9 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
28 Jul 24.7 °C 49 % 27 km/h 13.5 mm Very low 0
29 Jul 18.5 °C 48 % 23 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 1
30 Jul 20.9 °C 30 % 20 km/h 0.1 mm Low 6
31 Jul 19.2 °C 36 % 25 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
1 Aug 19.9 °C 36 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
2 Aug 19.4 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
3 Aug 18.0 °C 45 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
4 Aug 18.2 °C 41 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
5 Aug 20.2 °C 38 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
6 Aug 20.9 °C 51 % 39 km/h 2.5 mm Very low 3
7 Aug 20.9 °C 45 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
8 Aug 17.4 °C 70 % 29 km/h 10.1 mm Very low 0
9 Aug 20.1 °C 43 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
10 Aug 25.4 °C 39 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
11 Aug 18.4 °C 47 % 47 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 3
12 Aug 20.3 °C 37 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
13 Aug 22.9 °C 38 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
14 Aug 24.8 °C 45 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
15 Aug 21.9 °C 58 % 34 km/h 1.0 mm Low 6
16 Aug 24.8 °C 38 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Low 11
17 Aug 24.5 °C 46 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
18 Aug 28.1 °C 35 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
19 Aug 29.3 °C 17 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
20 Aug 24.2 °C 34 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
21 Aug 19.6 °C 50 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
22 Aug 24.7 °C 42 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
23 Aug 18.9 °C 29 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
24 Aug 25.9 °C 50 % 26 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 16
25 Aug 26.4 °C 48 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
26 Aug 28.2 °C 39 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
27 Aug 18.5 °C 64 % 25 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 13
28 Aug 16.8 °C 69 % 20 km/h 5.5 mm Very low 0
29 Aug 19.5 °C 49 % 30 km/h 0.4 mm Very low 3
30 Aug 16.7 °C 69 % 43 km/h 1.6 mm Very low 4
31 Aug 20.5 °C 39 % 40 km/h 1.1 mm Low 6
1 Sept 16.1 °C 70 % 47 km/h 15.7 mm Very low 0
2 Sept 21.1 °C 42 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
3 Sept 26.0 °C 40 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
4 Sept 26.1 °C 46 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
5 Sept 21.1 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
6 Sept 17.8 °C 47 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
7 Sept 15.6 °C 46 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
8 Sept 11.2 °C 57 % 66 km/h 1.0 mm Low 10
9 Sept 13.9 °C 50 % 47 km/h 0.3 mm Low 10
10 Sept 20.1 °C 38 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
11 Sept 15.5 °C 44 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
12 Sept 12.0 °C 46 % 35 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 12
13 Sept 17.6 °C 34 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
14 Sept 19.4 °C 36 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
15 Sept 22.2 °C 31 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
16 Sept 20.0 °C 54 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
17 Sept 14.1 °C 86 % 23 km/h 3.9 mm Very low 0
18 Sept 13.4 °C 55 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
19 Sept 13.3 °C 61 % 33 km/h 2.4 mm Very low 1
20 Sept 13.8 °C 46 % 32 km/h 0.3 mm Very low 3
21 Sept 17.6 °C 42 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
22 Sept 22.1 °C 39 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
23 Sept 16.1 °C 29 % 47 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 17
24 Sept 12.4 °C 47 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
25 Sept 12.1 °C 54 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
26 Sept 15.7 °C 35 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
27 Sept 23.5 °C 44 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
28 Sept 20.7 °C 50 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
29 Sept 10.3 °C 51 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
30 Sept 14.5 °C 62 % 38 km/h 2.7 mm Very low 3
1 Oct 18.6 °C 57 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
2 Oct 16.3 °C 33 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
3 Oct 14.8 °C 38 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
4 Oct 9.7 °C 51 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
5 Oct 5.5 °C 55 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
6 Oct 14.7 °C 50 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
7 Oct 15.3 °C 53 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
8 Oct 13.3 °C 50 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
9 Oct after 16.6 °C 44 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
10 Oct after 12.8 °C 48 % 35 km/h 0.6 mm Low 11
11 Oct after 7.2 °C 62 % 63 km/h 2.9 mm Very low 5

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 8.1, a minimum humidity of 31% and 13 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 27.

FWI at the start 8.1
Minimum humidity 31 %
Days without rain 13
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Region 5, Unorganized fire, August 2017
4,659 ha 11 days FWI 8.0 Min. humidity 33 % 108 km away, in 2017

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.0 mm on 16 Aug.

What happened to them

25 days
median duration
4,357 ha
median area
22 %
went past 10,000 ha
4.1 mm
rain at the end (median; 27 of 27 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (3,460 ha against a median of 4,357 ha) and lasted 119 days, against 25 days.

All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.1 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

2.9 mmfirst rain
11 Oct3 days after it ended
66km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 8 Oct, and on 11 Oct 2.9 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 27 of 27, with a median of 4.1 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 · 5 Jun 2022
After · 15 Oct 2022

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 · 349Every 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 Wood Buffalo fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 12 June 2022 to 8 October 2022 (119 days). The perimeter dates it from 12 June 2022 to 3 October 2022.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter mapped by Canada’s CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) is 3,460 hectares (34.6 km²). Other tallies, such as those of provincial agencies, may give slightly different figures.
Which census subdivisions burned?
The fire only entered Wood Buffalo (3,664 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.3 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 66 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 26, 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.
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: 27. Their median duration was 25 days and their median area 4,357 ha; 22 % went past 10,000 ha. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 4.1 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: NBAC (Natural Resources Canada), official.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 12 June 2022 to 3 October 2022. 349 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 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.