PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2017

BC wildfire N21628 · 2017 · 26,399 ha

White River wildfire, 2017

The White River wildfire started on August 7, 2017, caused by lightning. It was declared out on November 1, 2017. Its mapped perimeter covers 26,399 ha (264 km²): the 4th-largest of 2017's 43 large fires, and the 72nd-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in East Kootenay, Electoral Area F. The nearest municipality, Elkford, is roughly 38 km away; the fire covered about 2.5 times the land area of it.

A lot's report shows every mapped fire on it and within 2 km, with the lot drawn on the map.

Where it burned

Wildfire N20476, 2001: 1,063 haWildfire N20321, 2003: 10,734 haWildfire N20236, 2014: 1,222 haMount Bingay wildfire, 2023: 2,298 ha2014 N 05 km

This fireOther large fires since 1990

Outline simplified by us from the BC Wildfire Service's perimeter; not for locating a lot. Check a lot with the search above.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on October 2, 2026; 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence). Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

Places it reached

PlaceBurned thereOf the place's land
East Kootenay, Electoral Area F26,399 ha4%

Measured by us: the fire's mapped perimeter laid over Statistics Canada's boundaries of each municipality and electoral area. A place is listed when the fire burned any of a municipality, 25 ha or more of an electoral area, or a twentieth of the fire.

Burned before or since

1 earlier large fire had burned part of this ground.

  1. 2003Wildfire N2032110,734 ha in all484 ha shared

Overlaps measured by us on the mapped perimeters, which are the outer edges: where two overlap, the ground may have burned once, twice or not at all.

The record

Fire numberN21628
Season2017
StartedAugust 7, 2017
Declared outNovember 1, 2017
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter26,399 ha (264 km²)

Past fire is history, not a forecast. The chance of fire on a lot today depends on what the record doesn't show: the forest and grass around it, the slope, what has been thinned or burned since, and how far it is from a fire hall.

Before you buy or build, ask the local government or fire department about the fire protection area, FireSmart work and the distance to a fire hall, and ask your insurer what they need.

Sources: BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Perimeters – Current, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Incident Locations – Historical, BC Wildfire Service; BC Wildfire Fire Locations – Current, BC Wildfire Service (Open Government Licence – British Columbia), as published on October 2, 2026. Outlines simplified and places measured by PlaceDossier.

Larger in 2017: Elephant Hill wildfire. Smaller: Kleena Kleene wildfire. Every large fire of 2017 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?