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Kenethao fire, March 2016 Kenethao, Parklai

Out · last detection 29 Mar 2016, 05:59 UTC

The fire started on 17 March 2016 in Kenethao, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,917 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 63th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 64 in Laos in 2016, of 143.

Burnt area
2,917ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
13days
17 Mar 2016 – 29 Mar 2016
Municipalities hit
2
districts
Started on
17 Mar
2016
Heat detections
87
in a single hotspot: 135 MW
Danger at start
38
Very high · FWI index
Energy released
1.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

29 Mar 2016
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Mar29 Mar

How it evolved, day by day

171819202122232425262729

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

The weather it burned in

39°high
46km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone 48 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.0 mm on 31 Mar.

This area had burned before

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

What happened to each town

  1. Kenethao where it started
    1,909 ha reached on 17 Mar
    1.5 %
  2. Parklai
    1,022 ha reached on 17 Mar
    0.5 %

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)
17 Mar 38.7 °C 20 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
18 Mar 38.7 °C 23 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
19 Mar 38.0 °C 26 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
20 Mar 38.0 °C 28 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
21 Mar 38.2 °C 29 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
22 Mar 38.1 °C 25 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
23 Mar 38.4 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
24 Mar 38.0 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
25 Mar 29.0 °C 45 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
26 Mar 30.6 °C 43 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
27 Mar 29.4 °C 44 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
28 Mar 31.0 °C 41 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
29 Mar 32.5 °C 39 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
30 Mar after 33.9 °C 42 % 26 km/h 0.5 mm High 24
31 Mar after 34.3 °C 42 % 26 km/h 3.0 mm Low 9

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 10 Mar 2016
After · 5 Apr 2016

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 · 87Every 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

Other fires nearby

All fires in Laos ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kenethao fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 17 March 2016 to 29 March 2016 (13 days). The perimeter dates it from 17 March 2016 to 24 March 2016.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 2,917 hectares (29.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Kenethao (1,909 ha, 1.5 %); Parklai (1,022 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.7 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 40, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Laos (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.

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.

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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.