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EC · Ecuador · →

Isabela fire, 27 June 2018 Isabela

Out · last detection 30 Sept 2018, 07:28 UTC

The fire started on 27 June 2018 in Isabela, Ecuador, and satellites saw it burning for 96 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 21,019 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

The largest in Ecuador in 2018, of 7.

Burnt area
21,019ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
96days
27 Jun 2018 – 30 Sept 2018
Municipalities hit
1
cantons
Started on
27 Jun
2018
Heat detections
8,412
in a single hotspot: 1,017 MW
Danger at start
17
Moderate · FWI index
Energy released
204.6GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

30 Sept 2018
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 27 Jun30 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

272829302345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131516171819202122232425262830313458101112141516171819202122232426272930

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

The weather it burned in

29°high
50km/h · peak gust
45%lowest humidity

It had gone 40 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

What happened to each town

  1. Isabela where it started
    21,099 ha reached on 27 Jun
    3.9 %

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)
27 Jun 25.3 °C 63 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
28 Jun 24.3 °C 67 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
29 Jun 25.4 °C 64 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
30 Jun 26.4 °C 54 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
1 Jul 25.0 °C 65 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
2 Jul 29.1 °C 45 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Jul 27.7 °C 53 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
4 Jul 27.8 °C 49 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
5 Jul 27.5 °C 47 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
6 Jul 28.3 °C 48 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
7 Jul 27.3 °C 50 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
8 Jul 24.9 °C 66 % 38 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 21
9 Jul 27.6 °C 58 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
10 Jul 27.3 °C 60 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
11 Jul 26.2 °C 56 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
12 Jul 26.2 °C 57 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
13 Jul 28.2 °C 53 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
14 Jul 27.0 °C 58 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
15 Jul 25.8 °C 61 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm High 22
16 Jul 26.4 °C 57 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Jul 26.1 °C 61 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
18 Jul 26.5 °C 47 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
19 Jul 26.1 °C 54 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
20 Jul 26.9 °C 55 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
21 Jul 26.3 °C 54 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
22 Jul 26.0 °C 52 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
23 Jul 26.7 °C 53 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
24 Jul 28.2 °C 48 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
25 Jul 25.9 °C 61 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
26 Jul 26.0 °C 59 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 24
27 Jul 26.6 °C 51 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
28 Jul 27.2 °C 51 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
29 Jul 25.4 °C 61 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
30 Jul 25.5 °C 58 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
31 Jul 25.5 °C 62 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
1 Aug 25.6 °C 59 % 46 km/h 0.2 mm High 26
2 Aug 26.8 °C 45 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
3 Aug 26.4 °C 47 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
4 Aug 28.2 °C 46 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
5 Aug 26.8 °C 54 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
6 Aug 25.1 °C 61 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
7 Aug 25.0 °C 60 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Aug 27.3 °C 54 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
9 Aug 25.3 °C 62 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
10 Aug 27.5 °C 54 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
11 Aug 27.0 °C 54 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
12 Aug 27.3 °C 52 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
13 Aug 26.8 °C 56 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
14 Aug 23.8 °C 67 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
15 Aug 24.3 °C 65 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
16 Aug 25.5 °C 61 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
17 Aug 28.3 °C 52 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
18 Aug 24.4 °C 66 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 20
19 Aug 24.5 °C 62 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
20 Aug 24.9 °C 63 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
21 Aug 25.6 °C 59 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
22 Aug 25.1 °C 64 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
23 Aug 25.9 °C 57 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
24 Aug 25.6 °C 53 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
25 Aug 26.7 °C 53 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
26 Aug 23.8 °C 68 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
27 Aug 23.9 °C 66 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
28 Aug 25.5 °C 60 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
29 Aug 24.9 °C 59 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
30 Aug 25.3 °C 58 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
31 Aug 26.5 °C 53 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
1 Sept 26.2 °C 52 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
2 Sept 26.4 °C 50 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
3 Sept 26.7 °C 56 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
4 Sept 24.5 °C 66 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
5 Sept 26.6 °C 57 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
6 Sept 24.2 °C 68 % 33 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
7 Sept 25.5 °C 62 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
8 Sept 25.0 °C 64 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
9 Sept 25.4 °C 60 % 29 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 18
10 Sept 28.1 °C 51 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
11 Sept 26.5 °C 56 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
12 Sept 24.5 °C 65 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
13 Sept 23.6 °C 66 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
14 Sept 25.2 °C 60 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
15 Sept 25.3 °C 62 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
16 Sept 25.7 °C 60 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
17 Sept 26.4 °C 59 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
18 Sept 27.3 °C 54 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
19 Sept 26.0 °C 57 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
20 Sept 27.3 °C 53 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
21 Sept 26.8 °C 55 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
22 Sept 25.8 °C 57 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
23 Sept 26.6 °C 58 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
24 Sept 26.0 °C 59 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
25 Sept 26.4 °C 59 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
26 Sept 25.2 °C 64 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
27 Sept 25.7 °C 63 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
28 Sept 27.1 °C 59 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
29 Sept 27.0 °C 56 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
30 Sept 25.3 °C 65 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
1 Oct after 24.5 °C 64 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
2 Oct after 24.9 °C 65 % 33 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 16
3 Oct after 24.8 °C 62 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
4 Oct after 25.2 °C 56 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
5 Oct after 26.9 °C 39 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
6 Oct after 26.5 °C 49 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
7 Oct after 26.9 °C 48 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
8 Oct after 26.7 °C 48 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
9 Oct after 26.9 °C 47 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
10 Oct after 26.2 °C 45 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 20 Jun 2018
After · 7 Oct 2018

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 · 8,412Every 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

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Isabela fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 27 June 2018 and 30 September 2018: 96 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 21,019 hectares (210.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Isabela (21,099 ha, 3.9 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 29.1 °C, humidity dropped to 45 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 30, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Ecuador (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

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
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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.

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.