Phiang fire, 11 March 2020 Phiang, Xayabury
The fire started on 11 March 2020 in Phiang, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 23 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 6,343 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 23th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 32 in Laos in 2020, of 169.
- Burnt area
- 6,343ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 23days
- 11 Mar 2020 – 2 Apr 2020
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 11 Mar
- 2020
- Heat detections
- 314
- in a single hotspot: 236 MW
- Danger at start
- 16
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 10.2GW
- 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 5 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 9.1 mm on 5 Apr.
This area had burned before
61% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 894 ha in 2016, 2,430 ha in 2017, 658 ha in 2018, 2,980 ha in 2019. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,839 ha that had burned before.
- 2,980 ha Phiang fire, March 2019 20,323 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,430 ha Phiang fire, April 2017 8,243 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 894 ha Phiang fire, March 2016 5,336 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 658 ha Phiang fire, March 2018 3,658 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Phiang where it started6,120 ha reached on 11 Mar2.2 %
-
259 ha reached on 11 Mar0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar | 33.7 °C | 43 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 12 Mar | 36.7 °C | 33 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 13 Mar | 37.3 °C | 32 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 14 Mar | 35.3 °C | 37 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 15 Mar | 32.5 °C | 52 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 16 Mar | 33.0 °C | 53 % | 36 km/h | 1.5 mm | Low 7 |
| 17 Mar | 33.4 °C | 55 % | 38 km/h | 2.7 mm | Very low 4 |
| 18 Mar | 36.8 °C | 33 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 19 Mar | 33.3 °C | 49 % | 35 km/h | 2.2 mm | Very low 5 |
| 20 Mar | 31.9 °C | 60 % | 41 km/h | 6.2 mm | Very low 1 |
| 21 Mar | 31.7 °C | 60 % | 38 km/h | 1.8 mm | Very low 2 |
| 22 Mar | 32.7 °C | 50 % | 36 km/h | 1.9 mm | Very low 3 |
| 23 Mar | 28.1 °C | 67 % | 36 km/h | 11.3 mm | Very low 0 |
| 24 Mar | 31.1 °C | 61 % | 40 km/h | 4.6 mm | Very low 0 |
| 25 Mar | 29.7 °C | 64 % | 31 km/h | 22.2 mm | Very low 0 |
| 26 Mar | 33.7 °C | 42 % | 40 km/h | 0.1 mm | Very low 2 |
| 27 Mar | 36.0 °C | 35 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 8 |
| 28 Mar | 35.7 °C | 37 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 10 |
| 29 Mar | 37.0 °C | 35 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 30 Mar | 37.9 °C | 28 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 31 Mar | 38.0 °C | 30 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 1 Apr | 37.3 °C | 36 % | 34 km/h | 0.3 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 2 Apr | 33.9 °C | 47 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 3 Apr after | 35.3 °C | 48 % | 34 km/h | 0.3 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 4 Apr after | 35.7 °C | 45 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 5 Apr after | 32.8 °C | 60 % | 41 km/h | 9.1 mm | Very low 1 |
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 · 314Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 20,323 haPhiang9 March 2019 · 34 days · 1 km away
- 15,266 haBo Kluea23 March 2020 · 12 days · 22 km away
- 12,396 haPhiang28 March 2026 · 26 days · 23 km away
- 12,392 haBo Kluea7 April 2026 · 11 days · 30 km away
- 18,466 haPhiang3 April 2016 · 22 days · 33 km away
- 44,232 haParklai14 March 2026 · 43 days · 35 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Phiang fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 11 March 2020 to 2 April 2020 (23 days). The perimeter dates it from 12 March 2020 to 28 March 2020.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 6,343 hectares (63.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Phiang (6,120 ha, 2.2 %); Xayabury (259 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 38.0 °C, humidity dropped to 28 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 19, 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.