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Khoda Afarin fire, 7 August 2017 Iran

Out · last measured on 11 Aug 2017

The fire started on 7 August 2017 in Khoda Afarin, Iran, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,039 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 32th largest in East Azerbaijan since 2016 (of 36 with a page). Number 22 in Iran in 2017, of 27.

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
1,039ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
5days
7 Aug 2017 – 11 Aug 2017
Municipalities hit
0
counties
Started on
7 Aug
2017
Danger at start
23
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

33°high
37km/h · peak gust
30%lowest humidity

It had gone 44 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)
7 Aug 31.6 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
8 Aug 32.9 °C 30 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
9 Aug 32.7 °C 30 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
10 Aug 30.6 °C 34 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
11 Aug 27.8 °C 43 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
12 Aug after 29.1 °C 39 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
13 Aug after 29.7 °C 42 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
14 Aug after 29.1 °C 49 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
15 Aug after 28.3 °C 47 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
16 Aug after 24.8 °C 56 % 33 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 14
17 Aug after 25.0 °C 56 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 15
18 Aug after 28.0 °C 57 % 32 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 17
19 Aug after 27.8 °C 50 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
20 Aug after 27.8 °C 53 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
21 Aug after 29.2 °C 45 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 31 Jul 2017
After · 18 Aug 2017

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 Iran ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Khoda Afarin fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 7 August 2017 and 11 August 2017: 5 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 1,039 hectares (10.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.9 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 37 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 32, class 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
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 125.

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.