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Phiang fire, 15 March 2023 Phiang

Out · last detection 8 Apr 2023, 05:48 UTC

The fire started on 15 March 2023 in Phiang, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 24 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 13,358 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 6th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 16 in Laos in 2023, of 214.

Burnt area
13,358ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
24days
15 Mar 2023 – 7 Apr 2023
Municipalities hit
1
districts
Started on
15 Mar
2023
Heat detections
813
in a single hotspot: 69 MW
Danger at start
3
Very low · FWI index
Energy released
3.3GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

8 Apr 2023
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 15 Mar7 Apr

How it evolved, day by day

1516171820212223242526272829303112345678

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

36°high
40km/h · peak gust
25%lowest humidity

It had gone 4 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

59% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,551 ha in 2016, 6,846 ha in 2019, 1,813 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 7,816 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Phiang where it started
    13,413 ha reached on 15 Mar
    4.8 %

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)
18 Mar 31.8 °C 47 % 24 km/h 6.6 mm Very low 3
19 Mar 30.2 °C 53 % 28 km/h 1.3 mm Very low 4
20 Mar 33.4 °C 38 % 28 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
21 Mar 34.6 °C 34 % 40 km/h 1.5 mm Moderate 16
22 Mar 35.4 °C 28 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
23 Mar 35.7 °C 26 % 38 km/h 0.1 mm High 29
24 Mar 35.7 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
25 Mar 35.8 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
26 Mar 34.7 °C 29 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
27 Mar 34.3 °C 34 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
28 Mar 33.2 °C 44 % 40 km/h 1.9 mm Moderate 12
29 Mar 32.6 °C 45 % 32 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 18
30 Mar 32.2 °C 43 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
31 Mar 34.2 °C 35 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
1 Apr 34.7 °C 34 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
2 Apr 36.2 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
3 Apr 35.8 °C 24 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
4 Apr 35.4 °C 26 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
5 Apr 35.8 °C 25 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
6 Apr 35.7 °C 28 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
7 Apr 35.4 °C 31 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
8 Apr after 33.0 °C 47 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
9 Apr after 33.5 °C 48 % 34 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 21
10 Apr after 36.2 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
11 Apr after 37.2 °C 32 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 28

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 8 Mar 2023
After · 14 Apr 2023

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 · 813Every 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 timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Laos ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Phiang fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 15 March 2023 to 7 April 2023 (24 days). The perimeter dates it from 18 March 2023 to 1 April 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 13,358 hectares (133.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Phiang (13,413 ha, 4.8 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.8 °C, humidity dropped to 25 % and gusts hit 40 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 29, class High.
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

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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.

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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.