Yebyu fire, February 2016 Yebyu
The fire started on 26 February 2016 in Yebyu, Myanmar (Burma), and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,807 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 7th largest in Tanitharyi since 2016 (of 14 with a page). Number 59 in Myanmar (Burma) in 2016, of 119.
The power measured by the satellite is low (11.4 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
- 2,807ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 7days
- 26 Feb 2016 – 3 Mar 2016
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- municipalities
- Started on
- 26 Feb
- 2016
- Heat detections
- 98
- in a single hotspot: 11 MW
- Danger at start
- 17
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 290MW
- 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 30 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
-
Yebyu where it started2,822 ha reached on 24 Feb0.7 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Feb | 30.3 °C | 43 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 27 Feb | 30.9 °C | 38 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 28 Feb | 29.9 °C | 40 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 29 Feb | 29.8 °C | 44 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 1 Mar | 30.6 °C | 34 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 2 Mar | 29.9 °C | 31 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 3 Mar | 29.7 °C | 41 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 4 Mar after | 28.5 °C | 56 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 5 Mar after | 28.5 °C | 58 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 6 Mar after | 28.4 °C | 63 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 7 Mar after | 29.7 °C | 51 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 8 Mar after | 29.1 °C | 53 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 9 Mar after | 28.8 °C | 50 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 10 Mar after | 28.6 °C | 63 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 11 Mar after | 28.8 °C | 59 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 12 Mar after | 28.6 °C | 67 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 13 Mar after | 28.3 °C | 62 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 15 |
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 · 98Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 4,307 haThong Pha Phum30 April 2016 · 13 days · 27 km away
- 9,239 haThong Pha Phum8 April 2026 · 28 days · 28 km away
- 2,921 haThong Pha Phum17 April 2019 · 11 days · 29 km away
- 13,652 haThong Pha Phum27 February 2023 · 38 days · 36 km away
- 3,219 haThong Pha Phum21 March 2026 · 33 days · 36 km away
- 4,583 haThong Pha Phum18 March 2020 · 27 days · 37 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Yebyu fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 26 February 2016 and 3 March 2016: 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 2,807 hectares (28.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Yebyu (2,822 ha, 0.7 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 30.9 °C, humidity dropped to 31 % and gusts hit 38 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 Myanmar (Burma) (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.
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 ADM3 (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.