Phiang fire, March 2018 Phiang, Xayabury
The fire started on 17 March 2018 in Phiang, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 14 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,658 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 45th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 26 in Laos in 2018, of 87.
- Burnt area
- 3,658ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 14days
- 17 Mar 2018 – 30 Mar 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 17 Mar
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 87
- in a single hotspot: 143 MW
- Danger at start
- 2
- Very low · FWI index
- Energy released
- 2.2GW
- sum of detected power
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 12.8 mm on 31 Mar.
This area had burned before
67% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,128 ha in 2016, 2,350 ha in 2017. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,457 ha that had burned before.
- 2,345 ha Phiang fire, April 2017 8,243 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,128 ha Phiang fire, March 2016 5,336 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 5 ha Phiang fire, March 2017 2,444 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Phiang where it started2,920 ha reached on 19 Mar1.0 %
-
758 ha reached on 22 Mar0.3 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Mar | 32.7 °C | 48 % | 35 km/h | 4.7 mm | Very low 2 |
| 18 Mar | 31.1 °C | 58 % | 26 km/h | 1.6 mm | Very low 2 |
| 19 Mar | 33.8 °C | 42 % | 29 km/h | 0.1 mm | Low 9 |
| 20 Mar | 33.3 °C | 48 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 11 |
| 21 Mar | 30.1 °C | 52 % | 38 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 22 Mar | 29.1 °C | 56 % | 27 km/h | 0.4 mm | Moderate 11 |
| 23 Mar | 31.2 °C | 48 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 24 Mar | 31.3 °C | 51 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 25 Mar | 31.8 °C | 53 % | 28 km/h | 0.5 mm | Moderate 11 |
| 26 Mar | 28.2 °C | 65 % | 30 km/h | 2.0 mm | Very low 3 |
| 27 Mar | 26.5 °C | 69 % | 32 km/h | 2.1 mm | Very low 2 |
| 28 Mar | 32.5 °C | 44 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 8 |
| 29 Mar | 32.2 °C | 55 % | 33 km/h | 0.6 mm | Low 9 |
| 30 Mar | 31.6 °C | 57 % | 32 km/h | 1.5 mm | Very low 5 |
| 31 Mar after | 27.2 °C | 72 % | 26 km/h | 12.8 mm | Very low 0 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
Detections table · 87Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Phiang fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 17 March 2018 to 30 March 2018 (14 days). The perimeter dates it from 18 March 2018 to 25 March 2018.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,658 hectares (36.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Phiang (2,920 ha, 1.0 %); Xayabury (758 ha, 0.3 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 33.8 °C, humidity dropped to 42 % and gusts hit 39 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 12, class Moderate.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Laos (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.
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
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.