Awatchfire

Chelan County, Washington

Sisi Fire

Burning 31.0 miles south-east of Marblemount and 31.1 miles west of Winthrop, since Friday 14 August.

Map of Washington. The Sisi Fire burns 80 miles from Bellingham and 86 miles from Seattle, and 132 miles from the state capital, Olympia.
The fire sits 80 miles from Bellingham and 86 miles from Seattle.

4,615

acres burned so far — about 7 square miles

61

days burning so far

34%

of the perimeter held

The picture as of 9:09am today

The Sisi Fire is burning. The last heat was seen 5 hours ago.

Shaded relief map of the Sisi Fire. Amber flames mark every place that gave off heat in the last day; the shading is the shape of the ground.
Heat in the last day Higher ground pale, valleys dark

5hours

since anything was last seen giving off heat — about 4:20am on Thursday, local time.

5readings

of heat in the last day. There is not yet an earlier stretch of record to compare that against.

29.1miles

is how close the heat has come to Marblemount at any point in the record. In the last day the nearest heat has been 29.2 miles from it, and the closest this fire has come to Winthrop is 28.7 miles, 29.0 in the last day.

2.5miles

is the furthest any heat has been seen from the point on the official record — the width of the ground involved so far.

Smoke has been recorded lying over this ground ten times so far. The thickest of it was thin between 8:00am and 10:00am local time.

Where the heat is

No cluster large enough to call a separate front. The heat is in one piece.

Conditions measured 5.1 miles from the fire: 59°F, air at 58% humidity, a 0 mph wind out of the south-west.

How it got here

41 days of record on a day-63 fire

The record here begins at 2:52am on 22 Aug and runs to 4:19am on 15 Oct — 1298 hours, 1,800 readings of heat. The fire is on day 63, so the first 22 days are missing: nothing showed up from above until the fire was large enough and the sky over it clear enough for it to be seen.

Animated map of the Sisi Fire across the whole record, with a time bar along the bottom showing energy released and the local date.
The whole record, 435 frames at 3 hours a frame. The bar along the bottom is energy released; the moving line is the clock.

Day by day 41 days of record

  1. Map for Sat 22 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat22 Aug

    First readings

    • 63 heat readings
    • Heat from 2:52am to 9:40pm
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and night
  2. Map for Sun 23 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun23 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 37 heat readings
    • Energy 60% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 8:42pm
    • Spread 1.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and evening
  3. Map for Mon 24 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon24 Aug

    Holding

    • 74 heat readings
    • Energy 8% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 9:19pm
    • Spread 1.5 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and night
  4. Map for Tue 25 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue25 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 61 heat readings
    • Energy 66% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:00am to 1:42pm
    • Spread 1.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning and afternoon
  5. Map for Wed 26 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed26 Aug

    Flaring up

    • 84 heat readings
    • Energy 4.1 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:43am to 9:00pm
    • Spread 1.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  6. Map for Thu 27 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu27 Aug

    Flaring up

    • 76 heat readings
    • Energy 2.8 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:22am to 9:38pm
    • Spread 1.9 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and night
  7. Map for Fri 28 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri28 Aug

    The fiercest day

    • 123 heat readings
    • Energy 1.0 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:05am to 8:40pm
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and evening
  8. Map for Sun 30 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun30 Aug

    Cooling off

    • 87 heat readings
    • Energy 70% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:22am to 8:19pm
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and evening
  9. Map for Mon 31 Aug: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon31 Aug

    Holding

    • 95 heat readings
    • Energy 13% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:02am to 9:00pm
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  10. Map for Tue 1 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue1 Sep

    Holding

    • 85 heat readings
    • Energy 8% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:28am to 4:16pm
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  11. Map for Wed 2 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed2 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 29 heat readings
    • Energy 83% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:06am to 3:06am
    • Spread 2.1 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  12. Map for Thu 3 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu3 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 2 heat readings
    • Energy 70% down on the day before
    • Heat from 10:09am to 9:17pm
    • Spread 1.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the morning and night
  13. Map for Fri 4 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri4 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 1 heat readings
    • Energy 84% down on the day before
    • Heat from 1:55pm to 1:55pm
    • Spread 1.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the afternoon
  14. Map for Sat 5 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat5 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 13 heat readings
    • Energy 7.0 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 4:34am
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  15. Map for Sun 6 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun6 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 23 heat readings
    • Energy 2.9 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 4:17am
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  16. Map for Mon 7 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon7 Sep

    Holding

    • 21 heat readings
    • Energy 39% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:15am to 4:32am
    • Spread 1.8 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  17. Map for Tue 8 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue8 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 19 heat readings
    • Energy 3.3 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 9:17pm
    • Spread 1.9 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  18. Map for Wed 9 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed9 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 52 heat readings
    • Energy 2.1 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:13am to 4:24pm
    • Spread 1.9 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning and afternoon
  19. Map for Thu 10 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu10 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 70 heat readings
    • Energy 4.9 times the day before
    • Heat from 3:00am to 8:57pm
    • Spread 2.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning, afternoon and evening
  20. Map for Fri 11 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri11 Sep

    Holding

    • 136 heat readings — the most of any day
    • Energy 41% down on the day before
    • Heat from 1:56am to 4:01pm
    • Spread 2.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  21. Map for Sat 12 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat12 Sep

    Holding

    • 48 heat readings
    • Energy 6% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:22am to 2:46pm
    • Spread 2.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning and afternoon
  22. Map for Wed 16 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed16 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 20 heat readings
    • Energy 97% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:47am to 3:43am
    • Spread 2.1 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  23. Map for Thu 17 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu17 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 50 heat readings
    • Energy 4.3 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:28am to 2:53pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  24. Map for Fri 18 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri18 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 50 heat readings
    • Energy 1.6 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:09am to 2:14pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, morning and afternoon
  25. Map for Sat 19 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat19 Sep

    Holding

    • 57 heat readings
    • Energy 1.0 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:28am to 2:14pm
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  26. Map for Sun 20 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun20 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 83 heat readings
    • Energy 1.7 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:07am to 8:53pm
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and evening
  27. Map for Mon 21 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon21 Sep

    Holding

    • 89 heat readings
    • Energy 1.1 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:09am to 1:36pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  28. Map for Tue 22 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue22 Sep

    Flaring up

    • 95 heat readings
    • Energy 1.6 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 8:34pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and evening
  29. Map for Wed 23 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed23 Sep

    Holding

    • 40 heat readings
    • Energy 26% down on the day before
    • Heat from 4:32am to 9:12pm
    • Spread 2.5 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn, afternoon and night
  30. Map for Thu 24 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu24 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 12 heat readings
    • Energy 93% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 2:54am
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  31. Map for Sun 27 Sep: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun27 Sep

    Cooling off

    • 1 heat readings
    • Energy 95% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:38am to 3:38am
    • Spread 1.6 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  32. Map for Sun 4 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun4 Oct

    Holding

    • 1 heat readings
    • Energy 1.0 times the day before
    • Heat from 3:06am to 3:06am
    • Spread 1.9 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  33. Map for Mon 5 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon5 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 2 heat readings
    • Energy 4.0 times the day before
    • Heat from 3:32am to 2:14pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  34. Map for Tue 6 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Tue6 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 5 heat readings
    • Energy 2.5 times the day before
    • Heat from 3:11am to 2:40pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  35. Map for Wed 7 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Wed7 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 11 heat readings
    • Energy 1.7 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 4:34am
    • Spread 2.5 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  36. Map for Thu 8 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu8 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 17 heat readings
    • Energy 1.6 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:34am to 2:01pm
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  37. Map for Fri 9 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Fri9 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 33 heat readings
    • Energy 4.6 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:15am to 2:40pm
    • Spread 2.5 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  38. Map for Sat 10 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sat10 Oct

    Cooling off

    • 9 heat readings
    • Energy 78% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:54am to 3:05pm
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn and afternoon
  39. Map for Sun 11 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Sun11 Oct

    Cooling off

    • 2 heat readings
    • Energy 56% down on the day before
    • Heat from 2:01pm to 2:46pm
    • Spread 2.3 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the afternoon
  40. Map for Mon 12 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Mon12 Oct

    Flaring up

    • 19 heat readings
    • Energy 2.7 times the day before
    • Heat from 2:15am to 3:56am
    • Spread 2.4 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn
  41. Map for Thu 15 Oct: flames mark every place that gave off heat that day.

    Thu15 Octlatest

    Cooling off

    • 5 heat readings
    • Energy 84% down on the day before
    • Heat from 3:00am to 4:19am
    • Spread 2.2 miles from the recorded point at its furthest
    • Burning through the pre-dawn

How the record has moved

Each step is a change on the interagency incident record — acreage, containment or crews — with the date it was reported. No satellite reading is involved.

  1. Friday 14 August

    First reported

  2. Sunday 23 August

    801 acres on record — 0% contained, 13 personnel assigned

    801 ac · 0% held · 13 crew

  3. Monday 24 August

    Grew to 878 acres — 14 personnel

    878 ac · 0% held · 14 crew

  4. Thursday 27 August

    Grew to 943 acres — 32 personnel

    943 ac · 0% held · 32 crew

  5. Friday 28 August

    Grew to 1,504 acres — 45 personnel

    1,504 ac · 0% held · 45 crew

  6. Saturday 29 August

    Grew to 1,794 acres

    1,794 ac · 0% held · 45 crew

  7. Monday 31 August

    Grew to 2,104 acres — 17 personnel

    2,104 ac · 0% held · 17 crew

  8. Tuesday 1 September

    Grew to 2,244 acres — 20 personnel

    2,244 ac · 0% held · 20 crew

  9. Wednesday 2 September

    Containment 5% — 34 personnel

    2,244 ac · 5% held · 34 crew

  10. Thursday 3 September

    Containment 9% — 35 personnel

    2,244 ac · 9% held · 35 crew

  11. Friday 4 September

    Containment 11% — 34 personnel

    2,244 ac · 11% held · 34 crew

  12. Saturday 5 September

    Grew to 2,521 acres — 92 personnel

    2,521 ac · 11% held · 92 crew

  13. Monday 7 September

    Grew to 2,712 acres — 107 personnel

    2,712 ac · 11% held · 107 crew

  14. Tuesday 8 September

    Grew to 2,748 acres — 150 personnel

    2,748 ac · 11% held · 150 crew

  15. Wednesday 9 September

    Grew to 2,764 acres — 145 personnel

    2,764 ac · 11% held · 145 crew

  16. Thursday 10 September

    Grew to 2,812 acres — 130 personnel

    2,812 ac · 11% held · 130 crew

  17. Friday 11 September

    Grew to 3,054 acres — 137 personnel

    3,054 ac · 11% held · 137 crew

  18. Saturday 12 September

    Grew to 3,193 acres — containment 5%, 117 personnel

    3,193 ac · 5% held · 117 crew

  19. Tuesday 15 September

    Grew to 3,449 acres — 114 personnel

    3,449 ac · 5% held · 114 crew

  20. Wednesday 16 September

    Grew to 3,676 acres — 120 personnel

    3,676 ac · 5% held · 120 crew

  21. Thursday 17 September

    Grew to 3,691 acres — containment 15%, 116 personnel

    3,691 ac · 15% held · 116 crew

  22. Friday 18 September

    Grew to 3,731 acres — 117 personnel

    3,731 ac · 15% held · 117 crew

  23. Monday 21 September

    Grew to 3,908 acres — 107 personnel

    3,908 ac · 15% held · 107 crew

  24. Tuesday 22 September

    Grew to 3,993 acres — 83 personnel

    3,993 ac · 15% held · 83 crew

  25. Wednesday 23 September

    Grew to 4,158 acres — 81 personnel

    4,158 ac · 15% held · 81 crew

  26. Thursday 24 September

    Grew to 4,275 acres

    4,275 ac · 15% held · 81 crew

  27. Friday 25 September

    Grew to 4,305 acres

    4,305 ac · 15% held · 81 crew

  28. Sunday 27 September

    Grew to 4,325 acres — 61 personnel

    4,325 ac · 15% held · 61 crew

  29. Tuesday 29 September

    Grew to 4,330 acres — containment 29%, 57 personnel

    4,330 ac · 29% held · 57 crew

  30. Thursday 1 October

    Grew to 4,343 acres — 45 personnel

    4,343 ac · 29% held · 45 crew

  31. Saturday 3 October

    Grew to 4,352 acres — 34 personnel

    4,352 ac · 29% held · 34 crew

  32. Monday 5 October

    Grew to 4,368 acres

    4,368 ac · 29% held · 34 crew

  33. Tuesday 6 October

    Grew to 4,385 acres

    4,385 ac · 29% held · 34 crew

  34. Wednesday 7 October

    Grew to 4,401 acres — 33 personnel

    4,401 ac · 29% held · 33 crew

  35. Thursday 8 October

    Grew to 4,420 acres — 32 personnel

    4,420 ac · 29% held · 32 crew

  36. Friday 9 October

    Grew to 4,439 acres

    4,439 ac · 29% held · 32 crew

  37. Saturday 10 October

    Containment 34%

    4,439 ac · 34% held · 32 crew

  38. Monday 12 October

    Grew to 4,594 acres

    4,594 ac · 34% held · 32 crew

  39. Tuesday 13 October

    Grew to 4,615 acres

    4,615 ac · 34% held · 32 crew

34% of the perimeter is being reported as held. 32 people are assigned to it. It has grown from 0 acres when it was first written down to 4,615 now. Heat was still showing within the last half-day, and the record still lists this fire as active.