Thong Pha Phum fire, 18 April 2016 Thailand
The fire started on 18 April 2016 in Thong Pha Phum, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,271 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 81th largest in Kanchanaburi Province since 2016 (of 393 with a page). Number 74 in Thailand in 2016, of 527.
The power measured by the satellite is low (6.9 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
- 3,271ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 12days
- 18 Apr 2016 – 29 Apr 2016
- Municipalities hit
- 0
- districts
- Started on
- 18 Apr
- 2016
- Heat detections
- 17
- in a single hotspot: 7 MW
- Danger at start
- 20
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 58MW
- sum of detected power
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 10 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Apr | 36.6 °C | 47 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 19 Apr | 37.5 °C | 43 % | 27 km/h | 0.2 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 20 Apr | 35.7 °C | 56 % | 28 km/h | 0.5 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 21 Apr | 34.6 °C | 57 % | 31 km/h | 1.4 mm | Low 10 |
| 22 Apr | 36.3 °C | 47 % | 35 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 23 Apr | 36.0 °C | 47 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 24 Apr | 36.7 °C | 46 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 25 Apr | 35.5 °C | 50 % | 28 km/h | 0.6 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 26 Apr | 37.1 °C | 52 % | 34 km/h | 0.5 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 27 Apr | 36.6 °C | 52 % | 31 km/h | 0.9 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 28 Apr | 36.2 °C | 50 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 29 Apr | 36.8 °C | 48 % | 32 km/h | 0.3 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 30 Apr after | 35.2 °C | 59 % | 31 km/h | 0.7 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 1 May after | 37.5 °C | 41 % | 35 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 25 |
| 2 May after | 38.2 °C | 38 % | 33 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 27 |
| 3 May after | 37.3 °C | 41 % | 31 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 28 |
| 4 May after | 37.5 °C | 40 % | 37 km/h | 0.6 mm | High 26 |
| 5 May after | 39.2 °C | 34 % | 34 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 30 |
| 6 May after | 38.2 °C | 40 % | 32 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 30 |
| 7 May after | 39.4 °C | 36 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 8 May after | 38.4 °C | 39 % | 37 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 33 |
| 9 May after | 38.0 °C | 44 % | 31 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 30 |
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.
Detections table · 17Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 13,652 haThong Pha Phum27 February 2023 · 38 days · 16 km away
- 10,444 haThong Pha Phum11 March 2020 · 34 days · 16 km away
- 14,111 haSangkhla Buri11 March 2020 · 36 days · 18 km away
- 9,317 haThong Pha Phum15 March 2023 · 42 days · 22 km away
- 9,239 haThong Pha Phum8 April 2026 · 28 days · 24 km away
- 21,046 haSangkhla Buri21 March 2026 · 41 days · 29 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Thong Pha Phum fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 18 April 2016 and 29 April 2016: 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 3,271 hectares (32.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 37.5 °C, humidity dropped to 43 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 21, 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.
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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.