The fire started on 8 April 2021 in La Concordia, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 6 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,225 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 114th largest in Chiapas since 2016 (of 246 with a page). Number 174 in Mexico in 2021, of 294.
The power measured by the satellite is low (21.3 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
2,225ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page2,225CONAFOR1,079
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
8 Apr 2021 – 13 Apr 2021
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 1,079 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +106.3%. Matched on 1 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
6days
8 Apr 2021 to 13 Apr 2021: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 13 Apr 2021, 19:10 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
8 Apr 2021
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
8 Apr 2021
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
81
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 21 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
8 Apr 2021 – 13 Apr 2021
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
192MW
Total radiative power on 10 April 2021; hotspots that day: 28.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
10 Apr 2021
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
29.7FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 60.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
33.8°C · 39% RH
High of 33.8 °C and minimum humidity of 39% on 12 April 2021; gusts of 52 km/h on 10 April 2021.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
Living inside
model
≈ 20people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 0.43 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2020).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedweather
Weather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CONAFOR record
Nearby records with very different figures: 1,079 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2020
Built-up area0.43ha
Residents≈ 20
Inside the perimeter there were about 0.43 hectares of built-up land and about 20 residents (GHSL 2020, satellite-based estimate).
This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 5 April 2021 and burned 1,079 ha (the satellite measured 2,225 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
La ConcordiaEjido Independencia5 April 20211,079 ha· extinguished on 12 April 2021· cause: arson
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)
It started with an FWI of 29.7, a minimum humidity of 30% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 15.
FWI at the start29.7
Minimum humidity30 %
Days without rain60+
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · La Concordia fire, 8 April 2021
2,225 ha6 daysFWI 29.7Min. humidity 30 %
Villa Corzo fire, April 2019
8,571 ha15 daysFWI 28.4Min. humidity 31 %52 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.9 mm on 5 May.
It burned an area similar to its twins (2,225 ha against a median of 1,994 ha) and lasted 6 days, against 12 days.
In 2 of 15, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
1.6 mmfirst rain
15 Apr2 days after it ended
52km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 13 Apr, and on 15 Apr 1.6 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 13 of 15, with a median of 2.4 mm.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 8 April 2021 to 13 April 2021 (6 days). The perimeter dates it from 8 April 2021 to 12 April 2021.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 2,225 hectares (22.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered La Concordia (2,239 ha, 0.9 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.8 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 52 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, class High.
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.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 15. Their median duration was 12 days and their median area 1,994 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 2 of 15, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.
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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 8 April 2021 to 12 April 2021. 81 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 1,079 official ha against 2,225 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2020, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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.