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Pak Chom fire, 6 May 2016 Thailand

Out · last measured on 10 May 2016

The fire started on 6 May 2016 in Pak Chom, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,156 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 154th largest in Loei Province since 2016 (of 192 with a page). Number 396 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
1,156ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
5days
6 May 2016 – 10 May 2016
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
6 May
2016
Danger at start
22
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

39°high
32km/h · peak gust
32%lowest humidity

It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.5 mm on 11 May.

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)
6 May 37.2 °C 34 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
7 May 38.8 °C 32 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
8 May 37.6 °C 41 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
9 May 38.4 °C 34 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
10 May 39.3 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
11 May after 38.7 °C 36 % 23 km/h 1.5 mm Moderate 20

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 29 Apr 2016
After · 17 May 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 Pak Chom fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 6 May 2016 and 10 May 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 1,156 hectares (11.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.3 °C, humidity dropped to 32 % and gusts hit 32 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 28, 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.