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Chat Trakan fire, 3 March 2019 Thailand

Out · last measured on 15 Mar 2019

The fire started on 3 March 2019 in Chat Trakan, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 6,903 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 5th largest in Phitsanulok Province since 2016 (of 65 with a page). Number 15 in Thailand in 2019, of 503.

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
6,903ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
13days
3 Mar 2019 – 15 Mar 2019
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
3 Mar
2019
Danger at start
16
Moderate · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

34°high
49km/h · peak gust
26%lowest humidity

It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.9 mm on 16 Mar.

This area had burned before

77% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 5,241 ha in 2016, 340 ha in 2017, 585 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 5,312 ha that had burned before.

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)
3 Mar 33.6 °C 37 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
4 Mar 32.8 °C 39 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
5 Mar 33.2 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
6 Mar 33.9 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
7 Mar 34.3 °C 30 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Mar 33.7 °C 34 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
9 Mar 33.5 °C 32 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Mar 32.8 °C 32 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
11 Mar 34.1 °C 26 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
12 Mar 33.6 °C 30 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
13 Mar 33.6 °C 31 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
14 Mar 34.2 °C 33 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
15 Mar 33.4 °C 41 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
16 Mar after 32.3 °C 54 % 24 km/h 1.9 mm Low 6

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 24 Feb 2019
After · 22 Mar 2019

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 Thailand ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Chat Trakan fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 3 March 2019 and 15 March 2019: 13 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 6,903 hectares (69.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.3 °C, humidity dropped to 26 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 28, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Thailand (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: 199 · 191

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 199 · 191.

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 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). 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.