La Concordia fire, May 2021
La Concordia, Chicomuselo
Out · last detection 3 Jun 2021, 19:54 UTC
The fire started on 22 May 2021 in La Concordia, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,003 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities. According to CONAFOR, it was detected on 1 June 2021 and declared extinguished on 4 June 2021.
It is the 146th largest in Chiapas since 2016 (of 246 with a page). Number 199 in Mexico in 2021, of 294.
The power measured by the satellite is low (13.0 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
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
34.0°C · 37% RH
High of 34.0 °C and minimum humidity of 37% on 2 June 2021; gusts of 30 km/h on 26 May 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.
ⓘ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
Matches: 1,765 ha in the official record (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 area< 0.1ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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.
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)
22 May
33.7 °C
43 %
27 km/h
0.9 mm
Low 9
23 May
33.1 °C
43 %
30 km/h
6.2 mm
Very low 1
24 May
32.0 °C
48 %
27 km/h
2.2 mm
Very low 1
25 May
32.5 °C
45 %
21 km/h
1.3 mm
Very low 3
26 May
32.6 °C
47 %
30 km/h
3.8 mm
Very low 1
27 May
33.2 °C
45 %
26 km/h
0.0 mm
Low 6
28 May
32.9 °C
50 %
24 km/h
1.1 mm
Low 6
29 May
31.6 °C
50 %
22 km/h
12.0 mm
Very low 1
30 May
32.6 °C
47 %
22 km/h
0.0 mm
Very low 3
31 May
32.4 °C
49 %
24 km/h
1.3 mm
Very low 3
1 Jun
33.7 °C
39 %
27 km/h
0.2 mm
Low 10
2 Jun
34.0 °C
37 %
25 km/h
0.2 mm
Moderate 12
3 Jun
32.8 °C
45 %
20 km/h
0.2 mm
Moderate 12
4 Jun after
33.3 °C
43 %
28 km/h
1.7 mm
Low 6
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 8.7, a minimum humidity of 43% and 1 day without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 41.
FWI at the start8.7
Minimum humidity43 %
Days without rain1
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · La Concordia fire, May 2021
2,003 ha13 daysFWI 8.7Min. humidity 43 %
Las Margaritas fire, May 2023
1,754 ha10 daysFWI 9.3Min. humidity 41 %82 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.0 mm on 13 May.
It burned an area similar to its twins (2,003 ha against a median of 1,863 ha) and lasted 13 days, against 8 days.
In 2 of 41, 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 3.4 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
1.7 mmfirst rain
4 Junthe day after it ended
30km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 3 Jun, and on 4 Jun 1.7 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 39 of 41, with a median of 3.4 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 22 May 2021 to 3 June 2021 (13 days). The perimeter dates it from 28 May 2021 to 3 June 2021. According to CONAFOR, it was detected on 1 June 2021 and declared extinguished on 4 June 2021.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 2,003 hectares (20.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: La Concordia (1,616 ha, 0.6 %); Chicomuselo (398 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.0 °C, humidity dropped to 37 % and gusts hit 30 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 12, class Moderate.
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: 41. Their median duration was 8 days and their median area 1,863 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 2 of 41, 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 3.4 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 28 May 2021 to 3 June 2021. 68 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 1,765 official ha against 2,003 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
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.