Janos fire, April 2018 Mexico
The fire started on 29 April 2018 in Janos, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,652 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 205th largest in Chihuahua since 2016 (of 235 with a page). Number 203 in Mexico in 2018, of 235.
The power measured by the satellite is low (17.4 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
- Burnt area
- 1,652ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 29 Apr 2018 – 2 May 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 0
- municipalities
- Started on
- 29 Apr
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 50
- in a single hotspot: 17 MW
- Danger at start
- 57
- Extreme · FWI index
- Energy released
- 188MW
- sum of detected power
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 48 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.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Apr | 28.3 °C | 12 % | 52 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 30 Apr | 25.6 °C | 13 % | 61 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 1 May | 24.3 °C | 14 % | 65 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very extreme 70 |
| 2 May | 21.2 °C | 19 % | 79 km/h | 1.3 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 3 May after | 22.8 °C | 9 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 4 May after | 24.8 °C | 9 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 5 May after | 27.8 °C | 11 % | 53 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 60 |
| 6 May after | 31.2 °C | 13 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 7 May after | 33.3 °C | 10 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 8 May after | 33.5 °C | 9 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 9 May after | 33.9 °C | 8 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 10 May after | 34.4 °C | 8 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 11 May after | 31.5 °C | 10 % | 60 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very extreme 75 |
| 12 May after | 28.7 °C | 15 % | 60 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very extreme 73 |
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.
Detections table · 50Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Janos fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 29 April 2018 and 2 May 2018: 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 1,652 hectares (16.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 28.3 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 79 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 70, class Very 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.
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
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 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.