Burned area
satellite only281ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
- Source
- EFFIS (Copernicus)
- Date
- perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
DZ · Algeria · –
Msirda Fouaga fire, July 2018 مسيردة الفواقة · Msirda Fouaga, Bab El Assa
Out · last detection 31 Jul 2018, 02:57 UTC
The fire started on 30 July 2018 in Msirda Fouaga, Algeria, and satellites saw it burning for 2 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 281 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 7th largest in Tlemcen since 2016 (of 12 with a page). Number 2 in Algeria in 2018, of 5.
Use this data
Compare with…
Suggestions: Ain Kebira · 2020Beni Ouarsous · 2016Nedroma · 2020
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-24matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Duration by satellite
satellite only2days
30 Jul 2018 to 31 Jul 2018: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 31 Jul 2018, 02:57 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 only30 Jul 2018
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 30 Jul 2018
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
Hotspots
satellite only9
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 66 MW.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
- Date
- 30 Jul 2018 – 31 Jul 2018
+− 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 only221MW
Total radiative power on 30 July 2018; hotspots that day: 7.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 30 Jul 2018
+− 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
model40.7FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 57.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 30 Jul 2018, local noon
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
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
model33.2°C · 28% RH
High of 33.2 °C and minimum humidity of 28% on 30 July 2018; gusts of 36 km/h on 30 July 2018.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 30 Jul 2018 – 31 Jul 2018
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
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
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
-
· reconstructed perimeterEFFIS (Copernicus) revises the perimeter
What was saved on 24 October 2026
Every night a snapshot of what the page shows is saved. If anything changes, it appears in the list as a log entry.
- Area
- 281 ha
- Dates
- 30 Jul 2018 – 31 Jul 2018
- Name
- Msirda Fouaga
- Official record
- —
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/msirda-fouaga-2018-07?v=2026-10-24A 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
CSV for this fire msirda-fouaga-2018-07.csv · daily, no individual hotspots
| fecha | focos_viirs | frp_mw | tmax_c | tmin_c | hr_min_pct | viento_max_kmh | racha_max_kmh | precip_mm | fwi | clase_fwi | dentro_del_incendio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-07-30 | 7 | 221 | 33.2 | 19.9 | 28 | 14.5 | 36 | 0 | 40.7 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2018-07-31 | 2 | 1 | 32.4 | 17.6 | 26 | 13 | 33.1 | 0 | 45.9 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2018-08-01 | 0 | 0 | 30.9 | 20.2 | 46 | 16.9 | 40.7 | 0 | 36.2 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-02 | 0 | 0 | 30.4 | 20.8 | 48 | 15.9 | 39.2 | 0 | 33.5 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-03 | 0 | 0 | 32.7 | 20.1 | 39 | 12.1 | 34.2 | 0 | 31.1 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-04 | 0 | 0 | 32.7 | 20.7 | 44 | 12.9 | 37.1 | 0 | 30.7 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-05 | 0 | 0 | 34.3 | 21 | 36 | 15.9 | 37.8 | 0 | 37.2 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-06 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 20.3 | 36 | 14.7 | 36.7 | 0 | 35.7 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-07 | 0 | 0 | 36.6 | 20.9 | 31 | 14.9 | 38.2 | 0 | 37.3 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-08 | 0 | 0 | 33.1 | 22.2 | 43 | 12.3 | 32.8 | 0 | 36.5 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-09 | 0 | 0 | 31.9 | 22.7 | 44 | 15.3 | 33.8 | 0 | 34.1 | alto | 0 |
| 2018-08-10 | 0 | 0 | 31.5 | 21.7 | 38 | 19.2 | 40.3 | 0 | 35.8 | alto | 0 |
It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.
Live widget for your story
It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.
Sources for this page: EFFIS (Copernicus), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology
- Burnt area
- 281ha
- Copernicus perimeter
- Duration
- 2days
- 30 Jul 2018 – 31 Jul 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- communes
- Started on
- 30 Jul
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 9
- in a single hotspot: 66 MW
- Danger at start
- 41
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 111MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
30 Jul31 Jul
31 Jul 2018
How it evolved, day by day
30 Jul
31 Jul
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
33°high
36km/h · peak gust
26%lowest humidity
It had gone 57 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.
What happened to each town
-
281 ha reached on 30 Jul3.1 %
-
0 ha reached on 31 Jul0.0 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.
What burned
- Other natural land86 %
- Agricultural areas12 %
- Mixed forest2.2 %
Land cover inside the perimeter as reported by Copernicus EFFIS (outside the Corine Land Cover area).
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul | 33.2 °C | 28 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 31 Jul | 32.4 °C | 26 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 1 Aug after | 30.9 °C | 46 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 2 Aug after | 30.4 °C | 48 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 3 Aug after | 32.7 °C | 39 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 4 Aug after | 32.7 °C | 44 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 5 Aug after | 34.3 °C | 36 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 6 Aug after | 35.0 °C | 36 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 7 Aug after | 36.6 °C | 31 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 8 Aug after | 33.1 °C | 43 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 9 Aug after | 31.9 °C | 44 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 10 Aug after | 31.5 °C | 38 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 40.7, a minimum humidity of 28% and 57 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 12.
FWI at the start
40.7
Minimum humidity
28 %
Days without rain
57
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Msirda Fouaga fire, July 2018
281 ha
2 days
FWI 40.7
Min. humidity 28 %
Ain Kebira fire, August 2020
146 ha
1 day
FWI 41.5
Min. humidity 29 %
35 km away, in 2020
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Beni Ouarsous fire, July 2016
992 ha
2 days
FWI 41.8
Min. humidity 27 %
38 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Beni Ouarsous fire, August 2017
176 ha
4 days
FWI 41.8
Min. humidity 24 %
47 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Honaine fire, August 2016
162 ha
2 days
FWI 36.4
Min. humidity 30 %
37 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Belarbi fire, October 2017
215 ha
2 days
FWI 38.2
Min. humidity 26 %
144 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 6.0 mm on 19 Oct.
What happened to them
Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 12. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.
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
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
36km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 31 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain.
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.
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 23 Jul 2018
After · 7 Aug 2018
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 28 July 2018 the air beside the fire reached 16 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak16 µg/m³
Days over the guideline0 days
PM1026 µg/m³
WHO 15
28 Jul30 Jul1 Aug3 Aug
Good
Fair
Moderate
Poor
Very poor
Extremely poor
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table · 9Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV
Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Msirda Fouaga fire last?
- Copernicus dates it between 30 July 2018 and 31 July 2018: 2 days between the first and last image with fire.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 281 hectares (2.8 km²). Official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Msirda Fouaga (281 ha, 3.1 %); Bab El Assa (0 ha, 0.0 %).
- Did the fire reach a town?
- The fire came within 2.4 km of the centre of Bab El Assa, the closest of the areas it touched. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 33.2 °C, humidity dropped to 26 % and gusts hit 36 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 46, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Algeria (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: 14 · 1021 · Emergency number and official warnings
Satellite cross-check
History of this page Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
No changes since 24 October 2026.
RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
- Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 9 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
- We have not matched this page with any official record.
- Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
Where this data comes from
The perimeter and land cover come from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), measured on MODIS and Sentinel-2 imagery and published under CC BY 4.0. 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 ADM3 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.