Khoda Afarin fire, 19 July 2017 Iran
The fire started on 19 July 2017 in Khoda Afarin, Iran, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,120 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 24th largest in East Azerbaijan since 2016 (of 36 with a page). Number 18 in Iran in 2017, of 27.
The power measured by the satellite is low (22.9 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
- 1,120ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 19 Jul 2017 – 22 Jul 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 0
- counties
- Started on
- 19 Jul
- 2017
- Heat detections
- 36
- in a single hotspot: 23 MW
- Danger at start
- 34
- High · FWI index
- Energy released
- 268MW
- 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 9 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
48% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 532 ha in 2016.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Jul | 35.5 °C | 27 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 20 Jul | 35.2 °C | 22 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 21 Jul | 36.3 °C | 21 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 22 Jul | 35.8 °C | 28 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 23 Jul after | 35.2 °C | 39 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 24 Jul after | 31.7 °C | 41 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 25 Jul after | 32.6 °C | 36 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 26 Jul after | 34.8 °C | 33 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 27 Jul after | 36.1 °C | 30 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 28 Jul after | 36.3 °C | 31 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 29 Jul after | 37.2 °C | 34 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 30 Jul after | 36.1 °C | 37 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 31 Jul after | 34.5 °C | 33 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 1 Aug after | 34.7 °C | 30 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
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 · 36Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 2,668 haFuzuli District19 July 2016 · 3 days · 7 km away
- 3,313 haKhoda Afarin6 August 2026 · 2 days · 13 km away
- 5,261 haKhojavend District18 July 2019 · 5 days · 21 km away
- 6,338 haParsabadJuly 2019 · 4 days · 34 km away
- 3,408 haKhojavend District18 July 2026 · 5 days · 34 km away
- 2,639 haKhojavend District2 July 2019 · 3 days · 36 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Khoda Afarin fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 19 July 2017 and 22 July 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 1,120 hectares (11.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.3 °C, humidity dropped to 21 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 39, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Iran (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: 125
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 (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.