Phiang fire, 15 March 2023 Phiang, Parklai
The fire started on 15 March 2023 in Phiang, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 31 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 10,340 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 12th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 21 in Laos in 2023, of 214.
- Burnt area
- 10,340ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 31days
- 15 Mar 2023 – 14 Apr 2023
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 15 Mar
- 2023
- Heat detections
- 572
- in a single hotspot: 182 MW
- Danger at start
- 17
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 3.7GW
- 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 one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.6 mm on 21 Apr.
This area had burned before
67% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,596 ha in 2016, 549 ha in 2017, 796 ha in 2018, 2,368 ha in 2019, 4,715 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 6,893 ha that had burned before.
- 2,750 ha Phiang fire, March 2020 3,792 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,118 ha Phiang fire, April 2016 18,466 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,849 ha Phiang fire, March 2019 3,033 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 957 ha Parklai fire, March 2020 8,335 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 306 ha Parklai fire, April 2016 2,466 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 238 ha Phiang fire, March 2020 6,976 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 67 ha Phiang fire, March 2020 6,476 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 62 ha Parklai fire, April 2017 2,935 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Phiang where it started7,568 ha reached on 15 Mar2.7 %
-
2,824 ha reached on 16 Mar1.3 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Mar | 31.3 °C | 38 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 16 Mar | 29.8 °C | 42 % | 25 km/h | 0.6 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 17 Mar | 31.2 °C | 41 % | 22 km/h | 0.3 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 18 Mar | 31.5 °C | 47 % | 24 km/h | 6.6 mm | Very low 3 |
| 19 Mar | 30.0 °C | 53 % | 28 km/h | 1.3 mm | Very low 4 |
| 20 Mar | 33.1 °C | 38 % | 28 km/h | 0.2 mm | Moderate 14 |
| 21 Mar | 34.4 °C | 34 % | 40 km/h | 1.5 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 22 Mar | 35.1 °C | 28 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 27 |
| 23 Mar | 35.5 °C | 25 % | 38 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 29 |
| 24 Mar | 35.4 °C | 28 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 25 Mar | 35.5 °C | 25 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 26 Mar | 34.4 °C | 29 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 27 Mar | 34.0 °C | 34 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 28 Mar | 32.9 °C | 44 % | 40 km/h | 1.9 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 29 Mar | 32.4 °C | 45 % | 32 km/h | 0.5 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 30 Mar | 32.0 °C | 43 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 31 Mar | 33.9 °C | 35 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 21 |
| 1 Apr | 34.4 °C | 34 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 2 Apr | 35.9 °C | 23 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 3 Apr | 35.5 °C | 24 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 4 Apr | 35.2 °C | 26 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 5 Apr | 35.5 °C | 25 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 6 Apr | 35.5 °C | 28 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 7 Apr | 35.2 °C | 31 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 8 Apr | 32.7 °C | 47 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 9 Apr | 33.3 °C | 48 % | 34 km/h | 0.6 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 10 Apr | 36.0 °C | 34 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 11 Apr | 37.0 °C | 32 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 12 Apr | 37.5 °C | 29 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 13 Apr | 36.4 °C | 35 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 14 Apr | 38.0 °C | 31 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 15 Apr after | 37.9 °C | 29 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 16 Apr after | 33.2 °C | 52 % | 35 km/h | 0.7 mm | High 22 |
| 17 Apr after | 36.6 °C | 31 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 18 Apr after | 38.0 °C | 31 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 19 Apr after | 38.2 °C | 25 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 20 Apr after | 36.9 °C | 36 % | 30 km/h | 0.7 mm | High 28 |
| 21 Apr after | 35.2 °C | 39 % | 32 km/h | 1.6 mm | Moderate 17 |
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 · 572Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 44,232 haParklai14 March 2026 · 43 days · 14 km away
- 18,466 haPhiang3 April 2016 · 22 days · 15 km away
- 12,396 haPhiang28 March 2026 · 26 days · 17 km away
- 15,266 haBo Kluea23 March 2020 · 12 days · 23 km away
- 13,358 haPhiang15 March 2023 · 24 days · 24 km away
- 20,323 haPhiang9 March 2019 · 34 days · 25 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 15 March 2023 to 14 April 2023 (31 days). The perimeter dates it from 20 March 2023 to 7 April 2023.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 10,340 hectares (103.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Phiang (7,568 ha, 2.7 %); Parklai (2,824 ha, 1.3 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 38.0 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 40 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, 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
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.