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Phop Phra fire, 18 March 2019 Thailand

Out · last measured on 21 Mar 2019

The fire started on 18 March 2019 in Phop Phra, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,066 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 457th largest in Tak Province since 2016 (of 499 with a page). Number 447 in Thailand in 2019, of 503.

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
1,066ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
4days
18 Mar 2019 – 21 Mar 2019
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
18 Mar
2019
Danger at start
16
Moderate · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

35°high
36km/h · peak gust
33%lowest humidity

It had gone 28 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 8.9 mm on 26 Mar.

This area had burned before

76% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 436 ha in 2016, 678 ha in 2017, 448 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 807 ha that had burned before.

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 34.2 °C 45 % 21 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 16
19 Mar 34.0 °C 50 % 32 km/h 1.0 mm Moderate 16
20 Mar 34.5 °C 41 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
21 Mar 35.2 °C 33 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
22 Mar after 35.3 °C 37 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
23 Mar after 36.5 °C 38 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
24 Mar after 36.4 °C 35 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
25 Mar after 36.4 °C 37 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
26 Mar after 35.9 °C 43 % 23 km/h 8.9 mm Very low 4

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 11 Mar 2019
After · 28 Mar 2019

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 18 March 2019 and 21 March 2019: 4 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 1,066 hectares (10.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.2 °C, humidity dropped to 33 % and gusts hit 36 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.