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Goris fire, October 2020 Armenia

Out · last measured on 2 Nov 2020

The fire started on 31 October 2020 in Goris, Armenia, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 776 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 13th largest in Syunik since 2016 (of 52 with a page). The largest in Armenia in 2020, of 9.

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
776ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
3days
31 Oct 2020 – 2 Nov 2020
Municipalities hit
0
municipalities
Started on
31 Oct
2020
Danger at start
14
Moderate · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

22°high
23km/h · peak gust
21%lowest humidity

It had gone 24 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.9 mm on 7 Nov.

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)
31 Oct 21.6 °C 27 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
1 Nov 21.7 °C 21 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
2 Nov 18.4 °C 23 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
3 Nov after 14.9 °C 49 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
4 Nov after 15.0 °C 58 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
5 Nov after 12.5 °C 66 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
6 Nov after 11.9 °C 65 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
7 Nov after 9.6 °C 91 % 33 km/h 5.9 mm Very low 0

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 24 Oct 2020
After · 9 Nov 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 Armenia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Goris fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 31 October 2020 and 2 November 2020: 3 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 776 hectares (7.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 21.7 °C, humidity dropped to 21 % and gusts hit 23 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 17, class Moderate.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Armenia (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: 911 · 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 911 · 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 (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.