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Mae Sai fire, April 2016 Thailand

Out · last measured on 17 Apr 2016

The fire started on 13 April 2016 in Mae Sai, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,437 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 74th largest in Chiang Rai Province since 2016 (of 303 with a page). Number 120 in Thailand in 2016, of 527.

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
2,437ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
5days
13 Apr 2016 – 17 Apr 2016
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
13 Apr
2016
Danger at start
41
Very high · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

38°high
35km/h · peak gust
21%lowest humidity

It had gone 45 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)
13 Apr 37.3 °C 24 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
14 Apr 37.4 °C 27 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
15 Apr 38.4 °C 21 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
16 Apr 36.7 °C 25 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
17 Apr 36.5 °C 28 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
18 Apr after 37.3 °C 31 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
19 Apr after 35.5 °C 41 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
20 Apr after 38.1 °C 21 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
21 Apr after 37.4 °C 28 % 39 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 41
22 Apr after 35.1 °C 31 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm Very high 40
23 Apr after 37.0 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
24 Apr after 35.9 °C 35 % 32 km/h 0.4 mm High 34
25 Apr after 35.6 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
26 Apr after 37.1 °C 26 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
27 Apr after 38.9 °C 22 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 38

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 6 Apr 2016
After · 24 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.

Other fires nearby

All fires in Thailand ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Mae Sai fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 13 April 2016 and 17 April 2016: 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 2,437 hectares (24.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.4 °C, humidity dropped to 21 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 41, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Thailand (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: 199 · 191

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 199 · 191.

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.