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Umphang fire, 13 March 2017 Thailand

Out · last measured on 25 Mar 2017

The fire started on 13 March 2017 in Umphang, Thailand, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,456 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 115th largest in Tak Province since 2016 (of 499 with a page). Number 45 in Thailand in 2017, of 237.

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
2,456ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
13days
13 Mar 2017 – 25 Mar 2017
Municipalities hit
0
districts
Started on
13 Mar
2017
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

37°high
46km/h · peak gust
26%lowest humidity

It had gone 59 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.0 mm on 27 Mar.

This area had burned before

93% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,594 ha in 2016. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,294 ha that had burned before.

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)
13 Mar 34.4 °C 34 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
14 Mar 35.1 °C 33 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
15 Mar 35.5 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
16 Mar 35.2 °C 30 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
17 Mar 33.6 °C 36 % 40 km/h 0.1 mm High 34
18 Mar 34.0 °C 37 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 33
19 Mar 34.4 °C 32 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
20 Mar 34.9 °C 26 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
21 Mar 33.9 °C 35 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
22 Mar 35.4 °C 28 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
23 Mar 37.1 °C 32 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
24 Mar 36.0 °C 35 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
25 Mar 35.3 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
26 Mar after 36.0 °C 33 % 24 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
27 Mar after 31.7 °C 56 % 27 km/h 5.0 mm Very low 4

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 6 Mar 2017
After · 1 Apr 2017

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 Umphang fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 13 March 2017 and 25 March 2017: 13 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 2,456 hectares (24.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.1 °C, humidity dropped to 26 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 38, class High.
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.