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Bolnisi fire, December 2019 Georgia

Out · last measured on 28 Dec 2019

The fire started on 20 December 2019 in Bolnisi, Georgia, and satellites saw it burning for 9 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,530 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 2th largest in Kvemo Kartli since 2016 (of 16 with a page). Number 6 in Georgia in 2019, of 49.

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
1,530ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
9days
20 Dec 2019 – 28 Dec 2019
Municipalities hit
0
municipalities
Started on
20 Dec
2019
Danger at start
2
Very low · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

10°high
35km/h · peak gust
30%lowest humidity

It had gone 17 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.2 mm on 29 Dec.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

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)
20 Dec 10.2 °C 36 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
21 Dec 4.7 °C 50 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
22 Dec 5.1 °C 46 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
23 Dec 4.2 °C 52 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
24 Dec 7.2 °C 45 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
25 Dec 6.6 °C 41 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
26 Dec 8.0 °C 30 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 2
27 Dec 2.8 °C 68 % 22 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 0
28 Dec 4.8 °C 56 % 32 km/h 0.9 mm Very low 0
29 Dec after 1.1 °C 75 % 26 km/h 1.2 mm Very low 0

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 13 Dec 2019
After · 4 Jan 2020

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

All fires in Georgia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Bolnisi fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 20 December 2019 and 28 December 2019: 9 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 1,530 hectares (15.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 10.2 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 2, class Very low.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Georgia (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
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 112.

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 (Public Domain). 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.