Bansi fire, April 2018 Bansi, Domariyaganj
The fire started on 17 April 2018 in Bansi, India, and satellites saw it burning for 10 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 5,726 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 24th largest in Uttar Pradesh since 2016 (of 30 with a page). Number 9 in India in 2018, of 13.
We have the GWIS perimeter for this fire, but the VIIRS sensors did not capture it in enough detail: no day-by-day evolution, but the split by municipality is there.
- Burnt area
- 5,726ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 10days
- 17 Apr 2018 – 26 Apr 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- subdistricts
- Started on
- 17 Apr
- 2018
- Danger at start
- 54
- Extreme · FWI index
Where it burned
The weather it burned in
It had gone 4 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.1 mm on 29 Apr.
This area had burned before
49% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,007 ha in 2016, 2,510 ha in 2017. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,794 ha that had burned before.
What happened to each town
-
Bansi where it started5,434 ha8.2 %
-
313 ha0.6 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr | 38.7 °C | 25 % | 50 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 18 Apr | 38.7 °C | 20 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 19 Apr | 38.5 °C | 22 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 20 Apr | 38.6 °C | 22 % | 35 km/h | 0.3 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 21 Apr | 39.3 °C | 21 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 22 Apr | 38.5 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 55 |
| 23 Apr | 38.2 °C | 13 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 24 Apr | 38.4 °C | 14 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 25 Apr | 38.9 °C | 18 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 26 Apr | 37.2 °C | 34 % | 45 km/h | 0.3 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 27 Apr after | 37.2 °C | 30 % | 55 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 28 Apr after | 36.0 °C | 31 % | 46 km/h | 0.4 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 29 Apr after | 36.2 °C | 37 % | 38 km/h | 1.1 mm | High 37 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Bansi fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 17 April 2018 and 26 April 2018: 10 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 5,726 hectares (57.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Bansi (5,434 ha, 8.2 %); Domariyaganj (313 ha, 0.6 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 39.3 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 55, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of India (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
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: 112
Satellite cross-check
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
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 ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). 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.