The fire started on 11 May 2019 in Del Nayar, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 17 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,874 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 29th largest in Nayarit since 2016 (of 171 with a page). Number 62 in Mexico in 2019, of 363.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
4,874ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page4,874CONAFOR3,392
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
11 May 2019 – 27 May 2019
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 3,392 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +43.7%. Matched on 8 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
17days
11 May 2019 to 27 May 2019: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 27 May 2019, 20:34 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
11 May 2019
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
11 May 2019
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
250
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 41 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
11 May 2019 – 27 May 2019
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
231MW
Total radiative power on 16 May 2019; hotspots that day: 30.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
16 May 2019
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
55.5FWI · extreme
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 53.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
32.2°C · 15% RH
High of 32.2 °C and minimum humidity of 15% on 19 May 2019; gusts of 54 km/h on 25 May 2019.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
Living inside
model
≈ 30people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 0.19 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2020).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CONAFOR record
Nearby records with very different figures: 3,392 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
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 2020
Built-up area0.19ha
Residents≈ 30
Inside the perimeter there were about 0.19 hectares of built-up land and about 30 residents (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.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 11 May 2019 and burned 3,392 ha (the satellite measured 4,874 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Del NayarLas Higueras11 May 20193,392 ha· extinguished on 18 May 2019· cause: negligence
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)
It started with an FWI of 55.5, a minimum humidity of 19% and 53 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 19.
FWI at the start55.5
Minimum humidity19 %
Days without rain53
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Del Nayar fire, 11 May 2019
4,874 ha17 daysFWI 55.5Min. humidity 19 %
La Yesca fire, April 2024
6,359 ha8 daysFWI 52.5Min. humidity 19 %12 km away, in 2024
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It burned an area similar to its twins (4,874 ha against a median of 4,499 ha) and lasted 17 days, against 13 days.
In 12 of 19, 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 2.2 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
1.2 mmfirst rain
30 May3 days after it ended
54km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 27 May, and on 30 May 1.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 7 of 19, with a median of 2.2 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.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 11 May 2019 to 27 May 2019 (17 days). The perimeter dates it from 11 May 2019 to 22 May 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,874 hectares (48.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Del Nayar (4,888 ha, 1.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.2 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 54 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, class Extreme.
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: 19. Their median duration was 13 days and their median area 4,499 ha; 16 % went past 10,000 ha. In 12 of 19, 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 2.2 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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 11 May 2019 to 22 May 2019. 250 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 3,392 official ha against 4,874 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
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.
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.