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Phu Sing fire, January 2019 Thailand

Out · last measured on 3 Feb 2019

The fire started on 23 January 2019 in Phu Sing, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,450 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 7th largest in Si Sa Ket Province since 2016 (of 26 with a page). Number 100 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
2,450ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
12days
23 Jan 2019 – 3 Feb 2019
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
23 Jan
2019
Danger at start
18
Moderate · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

34°high
38km/h · peak gust
37%lowest humidity

It had gone 25 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

51% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 422 ha in 2016, 238 ha in 2017, 1,335 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 1,248 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)
23 Jan 31.3 °C 43 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
24 Jan 31.6 °C 38 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
25 Jan 32.1 °C 37 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
26 Jan 30.8 °C 40 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
27 Jan 30.9 °C 43 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
28 Jan 31.4 °C 43 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
29 Jan 32.5 °C 41 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
30 Jan 32.7 °C 45 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
31 Jan 32.5 °C 45 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
1 Feb 32.8 °C 43 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
2 Feb 33.6 °C 42 % 22 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 20
3 Feb 34.4 °C 43 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
4 Feb after 35.1 °C 41 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
5 Feb after 35.0 °C 49 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
6 Feb after 34.1 °C 54 % 23 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 18
7 Feb after 35.3 °C 49 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
8 Feb after 36.5 °C 44 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
9 Feb after 36.0 °C 48 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
10 Feb after 34.1 °C 53 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
11 Feb after 35.0 °C 35 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
12 Feb after 34.5 °C 38 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
13 Feb after 34.6 °C 39 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 24

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 16 Jan 2019
After · 10 Feb 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 Phu Sing fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 23 January 2019 and 3 February 2019: 12 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 2,450 hectares (24.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.4 °C, humidity dropped to 37 % and gusts hit 38 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 22, 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.