Phiang fire, 20 March 2026 Phiang, Xayabury
The fire started on 20 March 2026 in Phiang, Laos, and satellites saw it burning for 26 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,139 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 54th largest in Xaignabouli since 2016 (of 122 with a page). Number 146 in Laos in 2026, of 287.
- Burnt area
- 3,139ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 26days
- 20 Mar 2026 – 14 Apr 2026
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 20 Mar
- 2026
- Heat detections
- 97
- in a single hotspot: 87 MW
- Danger at start
- 10
- Low · FWI index
- Energy released
- 963MW
- 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: 22.3 mm on 19 Apr.
This area had burned before
94% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 790 ha in 2016, 2,032 ha in 2017, 1,209 ha in 2018, 1,687 ha in 2019, 1,997 ha in 2020, 54 ha in 2021, 1,296 ha in 2022, 622 ha in 2023, 1,028 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,965 ha that had burned before.
- 2,032 ha Phiang fire, April 2017 8,243 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,713 ha Phiang fire, March 2020 6,343 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,687 ha Phiang fire, March 2019 20,323 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,209 ha Phiang fire, March 2018 3,658 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 790 ha Phiang fire, March 2016 5,336 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 319 ha Phiang fire, March 2024 2,004 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Phiang where it started3,155 ha reached on 21 Mar1.1 %
-
2 ha reached on 8 Apr0.0 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Mar | 34.1 °C | 45 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 10 |
| 21 Mar | 34.7 °C | 42 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 22 Mar | 34.0 °C | 50 % | 38 km/h | 1.3 mm | Low 7 |
| 23 Mar | 36.7 °C | 28 % | 28 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 24 Mar | 37.1 °C | 29 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 25 Mar | 35.3 °C | 45 % | 30 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 26 Mar | 37.9 °C | 30 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 27 Mar | 38.3 °C | 28 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 28 Mar | 36.9 °C | 37 % | 30 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 29 Mar | 36.0 °C | 38 % | 42 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 23 |
| 30 Mar | 37.5 °C | 29 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 31 Mar | 37.1 °C | 33 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 1 Apr | 37.5 °C | 35 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 2 Apr | 37.6 °C | 36 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 3 Apr | 37.9 °C | 34 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 4 Apr | 36.3 °C | 39 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 5 Apr | 37.6 °C | 38 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 6 Apr | 37.6 °C | 37 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 7 Apr | 37.8 °C | 38 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 8 Apr | 38.8 °C | 28 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 9 Apr | 38.7 °C | 27 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 10 Apr | 38.5 °C | 25 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 11 Apr | 38.1 °C | 30 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 12 Apr | 38.7 °C | 26 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 13 Apr | 39.0 °C | 29 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 14 Apr | 39.5 °C | 29 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 15 Apr after | 39.6 °C | 27 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 16 Apr after | 39.9 °C | 20 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 17 Apr after | 38.7 °C | 30 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 18 Apr after | 36.3 °C | 42 % | 30 km/h | 0.9 mm | High 21 |
| 19 Apr after | 33.4 °C | 63 % | 36 km/h | 22.3 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.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 17 April 2026 the air beside the fire reached 130 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 98: 6.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table · 97Every 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 · 2 km away
- 15,266 haBo Kluea23 March 2020 · 12 days · 23 km away
- 12,396 haPhiang28 March 2026 · 26 days · 25 km away
- 12,392 haBo Kluea7 April 2026 · 11 days · 27 km away
- 18,466 haPhiang3 April 2016 · 22 days · 35 km away
- 44,232 haParklai14 March 2026 · 43 days · 38 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 20 March 2026 to 14 April 2026 (26 days). The perimeter dates it from 26 March 2026 to 7 April 2026.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,139 hectares (31.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Phiang (3,155 ha, 1.1 %); Xayabury (2 ha, 0.0 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 39.5 °C, humidity dropped to 25 % and gusts hit 42 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.