Fangcheng County fire, May 2017 Fangcheng County, Ye County
The fire started on 25 May 2017 in Fangcheng County, China, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,881 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 3th largest in Henan Province since 2016 (of 14 with a page). Number 79 in China in 2017, of 272.
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
- 1,881ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 25 May 2017 – 28 May 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- counties
- Started on
- 25 May
- 2017
- Danger at start
- 22
- High · FWI index
Where it burned
The weather it burned in
It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.3 mm on 3 Jun.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
Fangcheng County where it started1,768 ha0.7 %
-
119 ha0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 May | 34.0 °C | 14 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 26 May | 33.7 °C | 21 % | 24 km/h | 1.2 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 27 May | 35.6 °C | 15 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 28 May | 36.1 °C | 20 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 29 May after | 34.3 °C | 23 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 30 May after | 30.4 °C | 42 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 31 May after | 34.0 °C | 33 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 1 Jun after | 36.7 °C | 19 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 2 Jun after | 36.6 °C | 26 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 3 Jun after | 26.9 °C | 51 % | 46 km/h | 4.3 mm | Low 6 |
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.
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Fangcheng County fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 25 May 2017 and 28 May 2017: 4 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 1,881 hectares (18.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Fangcheng County (1,768 ha, 0.7 %); Ye County (119 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.1 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, class High.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of China (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: 119
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.