The fire started on 26 May 2021 in Tepehuanes, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,016 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 160th largest in Durango since 2016 (of 238 with a page). Number 197 in Mexico in 2021, of 294.
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
2,016ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page2,016CONAFOR1,056
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
26 May 2021 – 29 May 2021
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 1,056 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +90.8%. Matched on 1 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
4days
26 May 2021 to 29 May 2021: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 29 May 2021, 08:36 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
26 May 2021
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
26 May 2021
+− 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
138
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 275 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
26 May 2021 – 29 May 2021
+− 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
2,746MW
Total radiative power on 26 May 2021; hotspots that day: 15.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
26 May 2021
+− 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
32.3FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 3.
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
26.8°C · 19% RH
High of 26.8 °C and minimum humidity of 19% on 28 May 2021; gusts of 48 km/h on 28 May 2021.
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.
ⓘ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: 1,056 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 2020
Built-up area0.13ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there were about 0.13 hectares of built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2020, 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 25 May 2021 and burned 1,056 ha (the satellite measured 2,016 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
TepehuanesCom. Las Escobas / El Chapulin, El Ranchito25 May 20211,056 ha· extinguished on 31 May 2021· cause: unknown
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 May
25.9 °C
18 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
27 May
26.3 °C
22 %
46 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
28 May
26.8 °C
19 %
48 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
29 May
25.5 °C
22 %
48 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
30 May after
25.0 °C
23 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
High 36
31 May after
25.1 °C
22 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
1 Jun after
25.5 °C
20 %
47 km/h
0.7 mm
High 32
2 Jun after
18.5 °C
43 %
24 km/h
6.2 mm
Very low 2
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 32.3, a minimum humidity of 18% and 3 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 22.
FWI at the start32.3
Minimum humidity18 %
Days without rain3
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Tepehuanes fire, May 2021
2,016 ha4 daysFWI 32.3Min. humidity 18 %
Guanaceví fire, June 2021
1,532 ha6 daysFWI 33.0Min. humidity 20 %43 km away, in 2021
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.5 mm on 18 Jun.
It burned an area similar to its twins (2,016 ha against a median of 2,018 ha) and lasted 4 days, against 10 days.
In 3 of 22, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.
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
6.2 mmfirst rain
2 Jun4 days after it ended
48km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 29 May, and on 2 Jun 6.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 19 of 22, with a median of 2.4 mm.
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 26 May 2021 and 29 May 2021: 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 2,016 hectares (20.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Tepehuanes (2,024 ha, 0.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 26.8 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 48 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 35, 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.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 22. Their median duration was 10 days and their median area 2,018 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 3 of 22, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.4 mm.
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. 138 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 1,056 official ha against 2,016 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 2020, 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.