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Phop Phra fire, 2 April 2016 Thailand

Out · last measured on 15 Apr 2016

The fire started on 2 April 2016 in Phop Phra, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 14 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,940 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 55th largest in Tak Province since 2016 (of 499 with a page). Number 51 in Thailand in 2016, of 527.

We have the GWIS perimeter for this fire, but the VIIRS sensors did not capture it in enough detail: no day-by-day evolution, but the split by municipality is there.

Burnt area
3,940ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
14days
2 Apr 2016 – 15 Apr 2016
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
2 Apr
2016
Danger at start
28
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

37°high
43km/h · peak gust
39%lowest humidity

It had gone 58 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.5 mm on 25 Apr.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

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)
26 Mar 36.4 °C 39 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
27 Mar 32.9 °C 58 % 23 km/h 2.5 mm Very low 5
28 Mar 32.0 °C 58 % 18 km/h 1.0 mm Low 8
29 Mar 33.0 °C 54 % 23 km/h 5.6 mm Very low 3
30 Mar 33.8 °C 55 % 23 km/h 1.0 mm Low 6
31 Mar 34.1 °C 53 % 26 km/h 1.4 mm Low 8
1 Apr 33.8 °C 52 % 27 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 12
2 Apr 33.8 °C 47 % 32 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 17
3 Apr 35.3 °C 39 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
4 Apr 35.4 °C 39 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
5 Apr 34.4 °C 47 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
6 Apr 35.9 °C 42 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
7 Apr 35.6 °C 49 % 27 km/h 0.4 mm High 22
8 Apr 35.9 °C 43 % 26 km/h 1.3 mm Moderate 16
9 Apr 35.3 °C 44 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
10 Apr 36.5 °C 43 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
11 Apr 36.8 °C 43 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm High 25
12 Apr 36.2 °C 44 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
13 Apr 35.4 °C 47 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
14 Apr 35.9 °C 45 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
15 Apr 36.4 °C 45 % 36 km/h 0.3 mm High 26
16 Apr after 37.2 °C 39 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
17 Apr after 38.7 °C 31 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
18 Apr after 37.9 °C 36 % 31 km/h 0.2 mm High 32
19 Apr after 38.9 °C 33 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
20 Apr after 37.8 °C 33 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
21 Apr after 36.1 °C 45 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
22 Apr after 35.9 °C 45 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
23 Apr after 35.6 °C 48 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
24 Apr after 36.7 °C 41 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
25 Apr after 35.7 °C 50 % 33 km/h 1.5 mm Moderate 17

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 26 Mar 2016
After · 22 Apr 2016

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Other fires nearby

All fires in Thailand ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Phop Phra fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 2 April 2016 and 15 April 2016: 14 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,940 hectares (39.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.8 °C, humidity dropped to 39 % and gusts hit 43 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 28, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Thailand (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.

Emergency number: 199 · 191

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
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 199 · 191.

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.