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Acapulco de Juárez fire, 27 March 2017 Acapulco de Juárez, Chilpancingo de los Bravo, Coyuca de Benítez

Out · last detection 2 May 2017, 19:48 UTC

The fire started on 27 March 2017 in Acapulco de Juárez, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 36 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 12,746 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 19th largest in Guerrero since 2016 (of 582 with a page). Number 13 in Mexico in 2017, of 374.

Burnt area
12,746ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
36days
27 Mar 2017 – 1 May 2017
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
27 Mar
2017
Heat detections
916
in a single hotspot: 71 MW
Danger at start
5
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
155MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 27 Mar1 May
2 May 2017

How it evolved, day by day

27 Mar 2017 · 5 MW · 5 28 Mar 2017 · 24 MW · 6 29 Mar 2017 · 55 MW · 9 30 Mar 2017 · 21 MW · 8 31 Mar 2017 · 16 MW · 1 1 Apr 2017 · 15 MW · 5 2 Apr 2017 · 31 MW · 7 3 Apr 2017 · 43 MW · 13 4 Apr 2017 · 67 MW · 15 5 Apr 2017 · 376 MW · 49 6 Apr 2017 · 560 MW · 104 7 Apr 2017 · 544 MW · 104 8 Apr 2017 · 74 MW · 36 9 Apr 2017 · 217 MW · 21 10 Apr 2017 · 183 MW · 44 11 Apr 2017 · 37 MW · 21 12 Apr 2017 · 21 MW · 10 13 Apr 2017 · 166 MW · 17 14 Apr 2017 · 91 MW · 18 15 Apr 2017 · 111 MW · 27 16 Apr 2017 · 216 MW · 27 17 Apr 2017 · 254 MW · 22 18 Apr 2017 · 436 MW · 58 19 Apr 2017 · 223 MW · 42 20 Apr 2017 · 143 MW · 30 21 Apr 2017 · 53 MW · 11 22 Apr 2017 · 75 MW · 7 23 Apr 2017 · 102 MW · 25 24 Apr 2017 · 822 MW · 80 25 Apr 2017 · 243 MW · 48 26 Apr 2017 · 77 MW · 31 27 Apr 2017 · 90 MW · 8 28 Apr 2017 · 11 MW · 4 1 May 2017 · 27 MW · 2 2 May 2017 · 8 MW · 1
27 Mar 3 Apr 10 Apr 17 Apr 24 Apr

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

34°high
49km/h · peak gust
16%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.8 mm on 4 May.

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 8% of the area of London (127 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 town

  1. Acapulco de Juárez 779,566 inhabitants where it started
    6,870 ha reached on 27 Mar
    4.0 %
  2. Chilpancingo de los Bravo 283,354 inhabitants
    6,701 ha reached on 4 Apr
    3.1 %
  3. 129 ha reached on 14 Apr
    0.1 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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 2015
Built-up area2.6 ha
Residents≈ 300

Inside the perimeter there were about 2.6 hectares of built-up land and about 300 residents (GHSL 2015, 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)
27 Mar 29.7 °C 53 % 36 km/h 2.3 mm Low 5
28 Mar 29.3 °C 48 % 38 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 12
29 Mar 30.5 °C 39 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
30 Mar 29.0 °C 44 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
31 Mar 29.1 °C 39 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
1 Apr 31.0 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
2 Apr 30.7 °C 27 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
3 Apr 30.4 °C 35 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
4 Apr 30.8 °C 40 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm High 26
5 Apr 31.6 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
6 Apr 32.1 °C 17 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
7 Apr 33.5 °C 22 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
8 Apr 32.1 °C 28 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
9 Apr 30.8 °C 35 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
10 Apr 30.5 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
11 Apr 33.0 °C 25 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
12 Apr 30.6 °C 32 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
13 Apr 31.2 °C 28 % 42 km/h 0.3 mm High 32
14 Apr 31.9 °C 29 % 40 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
15 Apr 31.6 °C 28 % 40 km/h 0.4 mm High 33
16 Apr 31.1 °C 30 % 45 km/h 0.6 mm High 29
17 Apr 30.4 °C 27 % 47 km/h 0.2 mm High 32
18 Apr 30.9 °C 20 % 47 km/h 0.3 mm High 35
19 Apr 30.2 °C 16 % 48 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 39
20 Apr 30.2 °C 23 % 43 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 40
21 Apr 30.2 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
22 Apr 30.5 °C 26 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
23 Apr 30.6 °C 22 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
24 Apr 30.4 °C 34 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Apr 30.5 °C 29 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
26 Apr 29.5 °C 40 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
27 Apr 29.7 °C 45 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
28 Apr 30.0 °C 47 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
29 Apr 29.8 °C 41 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
30 Apr 31.0 °C 42 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
1 May 31.3 °C 38 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
2 May after 31.5 °C 37 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
3 May after 31.2 °C 40 % 41 km/h 0.2 mm High 27
4 May after 31.5 °C 42 % 40 km/h 5.8 mm Low 6

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 5.2, a minimum humidity of 53% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 15.

FWI at the start 5.2
Minimum humidity 53 %
Days without rain 0
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Quechultenango fire, May 2018
1,724 ha 10 days FWI 0.4 Min. humidity 52 % 53 km away, in 2018

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.2 mm on 22 May.

What happened to them

14 days
median duration
2,454 ha
median area
100 %
went past 1,000 ha
4.1 mm
rain at the end (median; 14 of 15 had it)

It was 5.2 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 36 days, against 14 days.

None of its 15 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 of 15, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, 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

5.8 mmfirst rain
4 May3 days after it ended
49km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 1 May, and on 4 May 5.8 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 14 of 15, 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 · 20 Mar 2017
After · 8 May 2017

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 · 916Every 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 Mexico

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Acapulco de Juárez fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 27 March 2017 to 1 May 2017 (36 days). The perimeter dates it from 27 March 2017 to 28 April 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 12,746 hectares (127.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Acapulco de Juárez (6,870 ha, 4.0 %); Chilpancingo de los Bravo (6,701 ha, 3.1 %); Coyuca de Benítez (129 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.5 °C, humidity dropped to 16 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 40, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Mexico (geoBoundaries). 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: 15. Their median duration was 14 days and their median area 2,454 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. None of its 15 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 of 15, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Area: 13,623 → 12,746 ha.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 27 March 2017 to 28 April 2017. 916 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 2015, 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 comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.