# Wildfires in Pakistan in 2018

6 fires larger than 1,000 hectares in Pakistan in 2018, with 7,998 hectares burned according to their perimeters. Here is the whole year: what the official record says, when and where it burned and what the weather was like.

## The year in a few sentences

- According to Copernicus GWIS, 297,885 hectares burned in Pakistan in 2018: 1.2 times the average of the other years from 2012 to 2024 (253,058 ha). (Copernicus GWIS)
- The worst week was 21 May to 27 May: 32,914 hectares burned in seven days, 11% of the year according to Copernicus GWIS. (Copernicus GWIS)
- The largest fire was the Central Kurram fire, which started on 12 January 2018 and burned 2,390 hectares: 30% of the area of the year's 6 fires with a page. (WorldFires)
- The day of highest danger at a fire this year was 25 April 2018: a Fire Weather Index of 59 (extreme on the EFFIS scale) at the Rajanpur fire, calculated by WorldFires from ERA5. (WorldFires · ERA5)

## Month by month

Hectares within the perimeters by the month the fire started. Tap a month to see it on the map.

| Month | Fires | Hectares |
|---|---:|---:|
| January | 3 | 4,450 |
| February | 0 | 0 |
| March | 1 | 1,012 |
| April | 1 | 1,137 |
| May | 1 | 1,399 |
| June | 0 | 0 |
| July | 0 | 0 |
| August | 0 | 0 |
| September | 0 | 0 |
| October | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0 | 0 |
| December | 0 | 0 |

## Week by week, against other years (Copernicus GWIS)

The average and the band are the Copernicus GWIS climatology for 2012–2025, which includes 2018 itself.

| Week | 2018 | That week | average | lowest and highest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 (1 Jan–7 Jan) | 4,241 | 4,241 | 3,136 | 0–11,583 |
| 2 (8 Jan–14 Jan) | 14,399 | 10,158 | 6,940 | 0–15,336 |
| 3 (15 Jan–21 Jan) | 24,838 | 10,439 | 10,997 | 1,123–27,269 |
| 4 (22 Jan–28 Jan) | 29,424 | 4,586 | 15,994 | 4,663–40,168 |
| 5 (29 Jan–4 Feb) | 29,781 | 357 | 20,058 | 7,878–50,374 |
| 6 (5 Feb–11 Feb) | 30,007 | 226 | 26,742 | 12,083–64,423 |
| 7 (12 Feb–18 Feb) | 30,007 | 0 | 35,416 | 14,921–72,560 |
| 8 (19 Feb–25 Feb) | 30,007 | 0 | 41,582 | 18,912–77,859 |
| 9 (26 Feb–4 Mar) | 30,210 | 203 | 46,320 | 20,325–93,279 |
| 10 (5 Mar–11 Mar) | 35,879 | 5,669 | 49,941 | 23,803–96,845 |
| 11 (12 Mar–18 Mar) | 38,678 | 2,799 | 52,293 | 27,168–97,089 |
| 12 (19 Mar–25 Mar) | 40,087 | 1,409 | 54,021 | 28,589–97,274 |
| 13 (26 Mar–1 Apr) | 47,030 | 6,943 | 56,641 | 29,172–102,889 |
| 14 (2 Apr–8 Apr) | 49,727 | 2,697 | 58,535 | 29,795–104,457 |
| 15 (9 Apr–15 Apr) | 52,251 | 2,524 | 60,362 | 30,987–105,865 |
| 16 (16 Apr–22 Apr) | 56,848 | 4,597 | 62,662 | 32,211–107,466 |
| 17 (23 Apr–29 Apr) | 65,438 | 8,590 | 68,128 | 35,426–109,960 |
| 18 (30 Apr–6 May) | 73,928 | 8,490 | 77,684 | 41,900–134,692 |
| 19 (7 May–13 May) | 100,135 | 26,207 | 96,211 | 60,759–178,197 |
| 20 (14 May–20 May) | 125,757 | 25,622 | 120,642 | 72,252–200,221 |
| 21 (21 May–27 May) | 158,671 | 32,914 | 134,436 | 74,714–214,033 |
| 22 (28 May–3 Jun) | 183,824 | 25,153 | 147,282 | 76,463–236,008 |
| 23 (4 Jun–10 Jun) | 186,317 | 2,493 | 159,176 | 78,374–282,663 |
| 24 (11 Jun–17 Jun) | 195,259 | 8,942 | 165,510 | 79,592–299,777 |
| 25 (18 Jun–24 Jun) | 198,111 | 2,852 | 168,614 | 80,671–300,749 |
| 26 (25 Jun–1 Jul) | 202,001 | 3,890 | 171,756 | 80,837–302,203 |
| 27 (2 Jul–8 Jul) | 202,995 | 994 | 173,293 | 81,385–302,918 |
| 28 (9 Jul–15 Jul) | 203,898 | 903 | 173,823 | 81,385–302,918 |
| 29 (16 Jul–22 Jul) | 204,465 | 567 | 174,401 | 81,531–303,496 |
| 30 (23 Jul–29 Jul) | 204,721 | 256 | 174,769 | 81,531–303,496 |
| 31 (30 Jul–5 Aug) | 205,257 | 536 | 175,227 | 81,661–303,787 |
| 32 (6 Aug–12 Aug) | 205,705 | 448 | 175,436 | 81,661–304,067 |
| 33 (13 Aug–19 Aug) | 206,076 | 371 | 175,776 | 81,661–304,067 |
| 34 (20 Aug–26 Aug) | 206,076 | 0 | 176,101 | 81,857–304,067 |
| 35 (27 Aug–2 Sept) | 206,076 | 0 | 176,336 | 81,857–304,067 |
| 36 (3 Sept–9 Sept) | 206,820 | 744 | 176,699 | 81,857–304,223 |
| 37 (10 Sept–16 Sept) | 207,428 | 608 | 177,120 | 82,659–304,352 |
| 38 (17 Sept–23 Sept) | 208,293 | 865 | 177,890 | 83,596–304,836 |
| 39 (24 Sept–30 Sept) | 209,161 | 868 | 178,794 | 85,510–304,982 |
| 40 (1 Oct–7 Oct) | 221,136 | 11,975 | 181,303 | 89,004–307,614 |
| 41 (8 Oct–14 Oct) | 238,427 | 17,291 | 184,681 | 93,159–308,037 |
| 42 (15 Oct–21 Oct) | 257,942 | 19,515 | 190,866 | 94,308–311,156 |
| 43 (22 Oct–28 Oct) | 280,736 | 22,794 | 198,074 | 96,576–325,117 |
| 44 (29 Oct–4 Nov) | 287,750 | 7,014 | 208,958 | 99,808–335,981 |
| 45 (5 Nov–11 Nov) | 289,062 | 1,312 | 218,291 | 105,950–345,151 |
| 46 (12 Nov–18 Nov) | 289,062 | 0 | 228,234 | 120,194–350,830 |
| 47 (19 Nov–25 Nov) | 289,062 | 0 | 235,210 | 125,850–356,242 |
| 48 (26 Nov–2 Dec) | 289,062 | 0 | 238,449 | 127,618–357,271 |
| 49 (3 Dec–9 Dec) | 289,062 | 0 | 241,930 | 130,582–357,601 |
| 50 (10 Dec–16 Dec) | 289,499 | 437 | 244,254 | 132,336–361,731 |
| 51 (17 Dec–23 Dec) | 294,352 | 4,853 | 248,188 | 136,285–366,205 |
| 52 (24 Dec–30 Dec) | 297,192 | 2,840 | 252,911 | 138,927–367,014 |

## Largest recorded fires

- [Central Kurram fire, January 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/central-kurram-2018-01.md) · 2,390 ha
- [Piplan fire, May 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/piplan-2018-05.md) · 1,399 ha
- [Rajanpur fire, April 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/rajanpur-2018-04.md) · 1,137 ha
- [Upper Orakzai fire, January 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/upper-orakzai-2018-01.md) · 1,039 ha
- [Lower Kurram fire, January 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/lower-kurram-2018-01.md) · 1,021 ha
- [Khushab fire, March 2018](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/khushab-2018-03.md) · 1,012 ha

## Sources and limits

Fire-page areas are satellite-measured perimeters and may differ from official statistics. The yearly and weekly record is the Copernicus GWIS estimate. The FWI is our own calculation from ERA5 at each fire's location: it is not an official danger warning.

## How to cite

WorldFires, “Wildfires in Pakistan in 2018”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/pakistan/2018 (accessed 15 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus GWIS, WorldFires, WorldFires · ERA5, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS).

> Experimental site with automatically processed open data: it may contain errors and is not an official emergency service. If there is a fire, call your local emergency number.

Full version with maps: https://worldfires.org/en/country/pakistan/2018