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Sangkhom fire, March 2018 Thailand

Out · last measured on 24 Mar 2018

The fire started on 21 March 2018 in Sangkhom, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,260 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 18th largest in Nong Khai Province since 2016 (of 27 with a page). Number 100 in Thailand in 2018, of 144.

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
1,260ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
4days
21 Mar 2018 – 24 Mar 2018
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
21 Mar
2018
Danger at start
15
Moderate · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

33°high
33km/h · peak gust
39%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.8 mm on 31 Mar.

This area had burned before

17% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 216 ha in 2016.

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)
21 Mar 29.4 °C 44 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
22 Mar 30.3 °C 46 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
23 Mar 31.9 °C 39 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
24 Mar 32.7 °C 44 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
25 Mar after 32.9 °C 49 % 29 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 17
26 Mar after 30.5 °C 51 % 30 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 17
27 Mar after 28.4 °C 56 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
28 Mar after 32.9 °C 47 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
29 Mar after 34.3 °C 47 % 21 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 15
30 Mar after 32.4 °C 55 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
31 Mar after 30.8 °C 56 % 33 km/h 2.8 mm Very low 5

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 14 Mar 2018
After · 31 Mar 2018

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 Sangkhom fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 21 March 2018 and 24 March 2018: 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 1,260 hectares (12.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.7 °C, humidity dropped to 39 % and gusts hit 33 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 17, class Moderate.
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.