PlaceDossier / BC places / Wildfires / 2021

BC wildfire C11491 · 2021 · 8,086 ha

Purdy Lake wildfire, 2021

The Purdy Lake wildfire started on July 5, 2021, caused by lightning. It was declared out on November 15, 2021. Its mapped perimeter covers 8,086 ha: the 21st-largest of 2021's 59 large fires, and the 212th-largest in BC since 1990. All of it was in Cariboo, Electoral Area I. The nearest municipality, Vanderhoof, is roughly 89 km away; the fire covered about 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

Kluskoil wildfire, 2006: 10,810 haPelican Lake Complex wildfire, 2010: 35,506 haWildfire C10299, 2010: 2,273 haPlateau wildfire, 2017: 520,885 haWildfire C10970, 2017: 21,870 haWildfire C11937, 2018: 13,433 haTeepee Lake wildfire, 2023: 7,864 haWildfire C10952, 2026: 1,581 ha20182026 N 02 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
Cariboo, Electoral Area I8,086 haunder 1%

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, and 1 later large fire burned into it again.

  1. 2018Wildfire C1193713,433 ha in all488 ha shared
  2. 2026Wildfire C109521,581 ha in all203 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 numberC11491
Season2021
StartedJuly 5, 2021
Declared outNovember 15, 2021
CauseLightning
Area inside the perimeter8,086 ha

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 2021: Klawli Lake wildfire. Smaller: Gladstone Park wildfire. Every large fire of 2021 · all seasons since 1990 · has my property burned?