Tecalitlán fire, April 2023 Tecalitlán, Tepalcatepec, Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares
The fire started on 26 April 2023 in Tecalitlán, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,677 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 248th largest in Jalisco since 2016 (of 283 with a page). Number 244 in Mexico in 2023, of 286.
The power measured by the satellite is low (14.2 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
- Burnt area
- 1,677ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 26 Apr 2023 – 29 Apr 2023
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- municipalities
- Started on
- 26 Apr
- 2023
- Heat detections
- 52
- in a single hotspot: 14 MW
- Danger at start
- 42
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 62MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 3 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
86% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 18 ha in 2016, 1,435 ha in 2020.
What happened to each town
-
Tecalitlán where it started1,350 ha1.0 %
-
268 ha0.3 %
-
66 ha0.0 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
Official record
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 24 April 2023 and burned 2,274 ha (the satellite measured 1,677 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
- Tecalitlán Puerto Casitas 24 April 2023 2,274 ha · extinguished on 30 April 2023 · cause: arson
CONAFOR (Comisión Nacional Forestal), estadística de incendios forestales en datos.gob.mx (CC BY 4.0). This is the agency’s consolidated statistic: it measures the area in its own way, which is why it can differ from the satellite.
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 Apr | 32.6 °C | 14 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 27 Apr | 31.8 °C | 20 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 28 Apr | 32.5 °C | 18 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 29 Apr | 32.2 °C | 12 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 30 Apr after | 31.5 °C | 26 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 1 May after | 31.5 °C | 19 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 2 May after | 32.4 °C | 20 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 3 May after | 33.4 °C | 22 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 4 May after | 32.7 °C | 25 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 5 May after | 33.2 °C | 28 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 6 May after | 34.6 °C | 24 % | 30 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 37 |
| 7 May after | 34.5 °C | 25 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 8 May after | 33.3 °C | 27 % | 31 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 37 |
| 9 May after | 34.3 °C | 24 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 30 April 2023 the air beside the fire reached 46 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 32: 2.1 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table · 52Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Tecalitlán fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 26 April 2023 and 29 April 2023: 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 1,677 hectares (16.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Tecalitlán (1,350 ha, 1.0 %); Tepalcatepec (268 ha, 0.3 %); Coalcomán de Vázquez Pallares (66 ha, 0.0 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 32.6 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 44 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 42, class Very 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.
Emergency number: 911
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
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 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.