Ust-Aldansky Ulus fire, June 2019 Ust-Aldansky Ulus, Namsky Ulus
The fire started on 15 June 2019 in Ust-Aldansky Ulus, Russia, and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,948 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 946th largest in Sakha Republic since 2016 (of 1422 with a page). Number 346 in Russia in 2019, of 613.
- Burnt area
- 4,948ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 7days
- 15 Jun 2019 – 21 Jun 2019
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 15 Jun
- 2019
- Heat detections
- 459
- in a single hotspot: 127 MW
- Danger at start
- 18
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 5.9GW
- 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 14 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.
What happened to each town
-
Ust-Aldansky Ulus where it started3,122 ha reached on 15 Jun0.2 %
-
1,810 ha reached on 17 Jun0.2 %
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.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Jun | 23.7 °C | 31 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 16 Jun | 26.1 °C | 30 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 17 Jun | 28.5 °C | 24 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 18 Jun | 28.0 °C | 30 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 19 Jun | 28.0 °C | 25 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 20 Jun | 28.5 °C | 32 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 21 Jun | 25.6 °C | 36 % | 34 km/h | 0.9 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 22 Jun after | 28.0 °C | 35 % | 25 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 21 |
| 23 Jun after | 25.6 °C | 40 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 24 Jun after | 25.6 °C | 36 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 25 Jun after | 23.6 °C | 42 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 26 Jun after | 24.8 °C | 29 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 27 Jun after | 26.7 °C | 35 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 28 Jun after | 30.5 °C | 26 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 29 Jun after | 28.3 °C | 30 % | 38 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 33 |
| 30 Jun after | 25.0 °C | 31 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 1 Jul after | 26.2 °C | 35 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 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 · 459Every 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 Ust-Aldansky Ulus fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 15 June 2019 and 21 June 2019: 7 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 4,948 hectares (49.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ust-Aldansky Ulus (3,122 ha, 0.2 %); Namsky Ulus (1,810 ha, 0.2 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 28.5 °C, humidity dropped to 24 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 25, class High.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Russia (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: 112
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 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). 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.