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Mae Sot fire, 1 April 2016 Thailand

Out · last measured on 8 Apr 2016

The fire started on 1 April 2016 in Mae Sot, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 8 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,871 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 182th largest in Tak Province since 2016 (of 499 with a page). Number 185 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
1,871ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
8days
1 Apr 2016 – 8 Apr 2016
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
1 Apr
2016
Danger at start
4
Very low · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

36°high
43km/h · peak gust
37%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 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)
1 Apr 34.0 °C 48 % 32 km/h 2.5 mm Very low 4
2 Apr 33.5 °C 49 % 31 km/h 1.5 mm Low 6
3 Apr 35.3 °C 37 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
4 Apr 35.3 °C 39 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
5 Apr 34.1 °C 44 % 40 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
6 Apr 35.6 °C 39 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
7 Apr 35.9 °C 42 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 19
8 Apr 36.5 °C 44 % 29 km/h 2.3 mm Low 9
9 Apr after 34.9 °C 43 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
10 Apr after 36.3 °C 42 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
11 Apr after 36.9 °C 40 % 37 km/h 0.2 mm High 21
12 Apr after 36.1 °C 42 % 47 km/h 0.3 mm High 24
13 Apr after 35.3 °C 43 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
14 Apr after 35.8 °C 41 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
15 Apr after 36.3 °C 41 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
16 Apr after 37.5 °C 36 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
17 Apr after 38.6 °C 32 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
18 Apr after 37.7 °C 39 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 25 Mar 2016
After · 15 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 Sot fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 1 April 2016 and 8 April 2016: 8 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 1,871 hectares (18.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.5 °C, humidity dropped to 37 % and gusts hit 43 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 20, class Moderate.
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.