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Buckthorn Fire, April 2022 Eddy

Out · last detection 11 Jun 2022, 08:47 UTC

The fire started on 20 April 2022 in Eddy, United States, and satellites saw it burning for 53 days. United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) mapped an official burnt perimeter of 483 hectares, spread across a single county.

It is the 189th largest in New Mexico since 2016 (of 204 with a page). Number 458 in United States in 2022, of 493.

The power measured by the satellite is low (1.0 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Walker · 2020

Burnt area
483ha
official perimeter (MTBS / NIFC)
Duration
≈ 53days
20 Apr 2022 – 11 Jun 2022
Counties hit
1
counties
Started on
20 Apr
2022
Heat detections
1
in a single hotspot: 1 MW
Danger at start
87
Very extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
1MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 20 Apr11 Jun

How it evolved, day by day

11 Jun 2022 · 1 MW · 1

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

The weather it burned in

42°high
73km/h · peak gust
2%lowest humidity

It had gone 29 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

41% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 197 ha in 2020.

What happened to each county

  1. Eddy where it started
    485 ha reached on 11 Jun
    0.0 %

Burnt area inside each county, from crossing the official 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 2020
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2020, 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)
20 Apr 33.8 °C 4 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 87
21 Apr 34.5 °C 4 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
22 Apr 35.2 °C 7 % 60 km/h 0.1 mm Very extreme 101
23 Apr 29.4 °C 8 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 88
24 Apr 27.1 °C 7 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 95
25 Apr 23.0 °C 21 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
26 Apr 23.4 °C 29 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
27 Apr 30.2 °C 27 % 54 km/h 1.1 mm Extreme 54
28 Apr 33.9 °C 2 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 87
29 Apr 32.5 °C 2 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 84
30 Apr 28.8 °C 4 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
1 May 31.5 °C 26 % 62 km/h 0.9 mm Very extreme 70
2 May 33.2 °C 3 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 85
3 May 28.0 °C 8 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
4 May 32.4 °C 2 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 83
5 May 30.8 °C 3 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 84
6 May 35.9 °C 2 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
7 May 37.5 °C 2 % 60 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 110
8 May 36.0 °C 2 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 98
9 May 35.4 °C 2 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 97
10 May 36.9 °C 7 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 106
11 May 36.7 °C 16 % 63 km/h 3.7 mm Extreme 70
12 May 35.4 °C 2 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 81
13 May 35.0 °C 2 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
14 May 36.0 °C 3 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
15 May 38.3 °C 2 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
16 May 37.3 °C 10 % 66 km/h 0.9 mm Very extreme 89
17 May 37.6 °C 2 % 73 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 100
18 May 37.0 °C 3 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
19 May 37.6 °C 4 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 90
20 May 34.2 °C 6 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 90
21 May 29.0 °C 11 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
22 May 21.4 °C 28 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
23 May 32.8 °C 20 % 58 km/h 0.9 mm Extreme 66
24 May 28.3 °C 18 % 69 km/h 0.2 mm Extreme 69
25 May 25.6 °C 19 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 May 34.2 °C 5 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
27 May 38.5 °C 4 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 96
28 May 39.9 °C 6 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 92
29 May 36.8 °C 3 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 91
30 May 35.5 °C 5 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
31 May 37.4 °C 9 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 88
1 Jun 33.8 °C 27 % 46 km/h 4.1 mm High 28
2 Jun 24.0 °C 62 % 37 km/h 3.0 mm Low 8
3 Jun 31.0 °C 32 % 35 km/h 1.9 mm High 22
4 Jun 36.4 °C 7 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
5 Jun 38.1 °C 4 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
6 Jun 39.7 °C 6 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
7 Jun 39.0 °C 11 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
8 Jun 36.9 °C 18 % 55 km/h 4.2 mm Very high 45
9 Jun 37.1 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
10 Jun 39.1 °C 12 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
11 Jun 41.6 °C 8 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
12 Jun after 41.6 °C 8 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 89
13 Jun after 40.9 °C 9 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 97
14 Jun after 40.1 °C 10 % 55 km/h 0.1 mm Very extreme 94
15 Jun after 38.1 °C 16 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 85
16 Jun after 36.3 °C 20 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
17 Jun after 36.0 °C 14 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
18 Jun after 35.7 °C 18 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
19 Jun after 35.1 °C 23 % 51 km/h 0.2 mm Very extreme 76
20 Jun after 36.2 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 65
21 Jun after 34.1 °C 21 % 46 km/h 0.2 mm Extreme 52

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 13 Apr 2022
After · 18 Jun 2022

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 · 1Every 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 United States ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Buckthorn Fire last?
The official perimeter only gives the start date (20 April 2022). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 11 June 2022 (53 days from 20 April 2022), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.
How much area did it burn?
The official perimeter published by United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC) is 483 hectares (4.8 km²). Other tallies, such as daily incident reports, may give slightly different figures.
Which counties burned?
The fire only entered Eddy (485 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 41.6 °C, humidity dropped to 2 % and gusts hit 73 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 110, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the official burnt perimeter of United States agencies (MTBS / NIFC, public domain), NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of United States. 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: 911 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

Satellite cross-check

History of this page Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page

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.

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How we know this
  • Perimeter: MTBS (US Geological Survey and US Forest Service), official.
  • The official perimeter has no end date: the end is the last day with VIIRS detections inside the perimeter before a gap of more than 10 days (150 days at most), so it is approximate. One Suomi-NPP VIIRS detection 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 2020, 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 is official and in the public domain. For past years it comes from MTBS (Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity), run by the U.S. Geological Survey and the USDA Forest Service, which map it on Landsat and Sentinel-2 imagery. For the current and last year it comes from WFIGS at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC): incident perimeters mapped by fire crews, aircraft and imagery. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. County boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Public Domain). The area per county is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from official figures.