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Pai fire, 21 February 2017 Thailand

Out · last measured on 24 Feb 2017

The fire started on 21 February 2017 in Pai, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,014 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 653th largest in Mae Hong Son Province since 2016 (of 668 with a page). Number 233 in Thailand in 2017, of 240.

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
1,014ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
4days
21 Feb 2017 – 24 Feb 2017
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
21 Feb
2017
Danger at start
23
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

33°high
41km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone 40 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

11% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 110 ha in 2016.

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)
21 Feb 31.1 °C 29 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
22 Feb 32.2 °C 26 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
23 Feb 32.9 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
24 Feb 33.3 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
25 Feb after 33.0 °C 23 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
26 Feb after 33.1 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
27 Feb after 33.3 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
28 Feb after 33.6 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
1 Mar after 33.7 °C 21 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
2 Mar after 33.0 °C 27 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
3 Mar after 32.9 °C 22 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
4 Mar after 32.9 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
5 Mar after 32.2 °C 21 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
6 Mar after 33.1 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 14 Feb 2017
After · 3 Mar 2017

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 Pai fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 21 February 2017 and 24 February 2017: 4 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 1,014 hectares (10.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.3 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 31, class 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.