Playas de Rosarito fire, October 2017
Playas de Rosarito, Tijuana
Out · last detection 27 Oct 2017, 09:39 UTC
The fire started on 23 October 2017 in Playas de Rosarito, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,247 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 16th largest in Baja California since 2016 (of 53 with a page). Number 90 in Mexico in 2017, of 374.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
4,247ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page4,247CONAFOR2,420
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
23 Oct 2017 – 27 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 2,420 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +75.5%. Matched on 8 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
5days
23 Oct 2017 to 27 Oct 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 27 Oct 2017, 09:39 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
23 Oct 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
23 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
233
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 205 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
23 Oct 2017 – 27 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
4,495MW
Total radiative power on 25 October 2017; hotspots that day: 114.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
25 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
31.4FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 2.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
31.6°C · 16% RH
High of 31.6 °C and minimum humidity of 16% on 25 October 2017; gusts of 26 km/h on 25 October 2017.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
Living inside
model
≈ 400people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 6.8 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2015).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CONAFOR record
Nearby records with very different figures: 2,420 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2015
Built-up area6.8ha
Residents≈ 400
Inside the perimeter there were about 6.8 hectares of built-up land and about 400 residents (GHSL 2015, satellite-based estimate).
This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 23 October 2017 and burned 2,420 ha (the satellite measured 4,247 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Playas de RosaritoCañon del Morro23 October 20172,420 ha· extinguished on 29 October 2017· cause: negligence
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 Oct
28.8 °C
21 %
20 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
24 Oct
30.2 °C
19 %
26 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
25 Oct
31.6 °C
16 %
26 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
26 Oct
25.4 °C
33 %
21 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
27 Oct
23.4 °C
47 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
28 Oct after
21.6 °C
56 %
23 km/h
0.0 mm
High 22
29 Oct after
19.8 °C
61 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 15
30 Oct after
17.8 °C
64 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 17
31 Oct after
17.6 °C
74 %
18 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 13
1 Nov after
18.6 °C
66 %
23 km/h
0.1 mm
Moderate 16
2 Nov after
18.4 °C
56 %
23 km/h
0.1 mm
Moderate 17
3 Nov after
18.6 °C
55 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 20
4 Nov after
18.9 °C
64 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 19
5 Nov after
19.0 °C
71 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 15
6 Nov after
19.8 °C
63 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 15
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 31.4, a minimum humidity of 21% and 2 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 8.
FWI at the start31.4
Minimum humidity21 %
Days without rain2
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Playas de Rosarito fire, October 2017
4,247 ha5 daysFWI 31.4Min. humidity 21 %
Ensenada fire, August 2018
3,487 ha5 daysFWI 31.2Min. humidity 20 %67 km away, in 2018
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 8. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
26km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 27 Oct, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 23 October 2017 and 27 October 2017: 5 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 4,247 hectares (42.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Playas de Rosarito (3,531 ha, 7.0 %); Tijuana (729 ha, 0.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.6 °C, humidity dropped to 16 % and gusts hit 26 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 Mexico (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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 233 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 2,420 official ha against 4,247 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2015, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)). 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.