Zirándaro fire, 30 April 2023
Coyuca de Catalán, Zirándaro
Out · last detection 11 May 2023, 07:50 UTC
The fire started on 30 April 2023 in Zirándaro, Mexico, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,184 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 134th largest in Guerrero since 2016 (of 582 with a page). Number 62 in Mexico in 2023, of 285.
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
4,184ha
Union of 2 GWIS (Copernicus) perimeters: overlapping areas count once.
This page4,184CONAFOR5,561
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
30 Apr 2023 – 12 May 2023
+− cross-check
CONAFOR: 5,561 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: −24.8%. Matched on 8 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
13days
30 Apr 2023 to 12 May 2023: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 11 May 2023, 07:50 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
30 Apr 2023
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
30 Apr 2023
+− 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
204
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 43 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
30 Apr 2023 – 12 May 2023
+− 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
269MW
Total radiative power on 2 May 2023; hotspots that day: 38.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
2 May 2023
+− 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
34.4FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 7.
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
28.4°C · 24% RH
High of 28.4 °C and minimum humidity of 24% on 9 May 2023; gusts of 48 km/h on 10 May 2023.
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.
Living inside
model
≈ 150people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 1.7 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2025).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
ⓘ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: 5,561 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
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
28°high
48km/h · peak gust
19%lowest humidity
It had gone 7 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.0 mm on 14 May.
This area had burned before
95% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,515 ha in 2016, 872 ha in 2017, 2,632 ha in 2019, 2,941 ha in 2021. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,995 ha that had burned before.
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 2025
Built-up area1.7ha
Residents≈ 150
Inside the perimeter there were about 1.7 hectares of built-up land and about 150 residents (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.
According to CONAFOR, this fire started on 30 April 2023 and burned 5,561 ha (the satellite measured 4,184 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
ZirándaroEjido Zihuaqui Y Anexos / Aguacatitos30 April 20235,561 ha· extinguished on 15 May 2023· 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)
30 Apr
25.4 °C
25 %
39 km/h
0.2 mm
High 34
1 May
26.2 °C
22 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
2 May
26.7 °C
23 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
3 May
27.6 °C
22 %
39 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
4 May
26.6 °C
33 %
43 km/h
6.3 mm
Moderate 14
5 May
26.8 °C
26 %
39 km/h
0.9 mm
Low 6
6 May
27.7 °C
24 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 20
7 May
28.1 °C
19 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
High 26
8 May
26.9 °C
22 %
46 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
9 May
28.4 °C
24 %
43 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
10 May
28.0 °C
20 %
48 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
11 May
27.2 °C
27 %
43 km/h
0.0 mm
High 32
12 May
25.9 °C
32 %
37 km/h
0.2 mm
High 29
13 May after
26.3 °C
28 %
43 km/h
0.4 mm
High 33
14 May after
25.9 °C
26 %
32 km/h
1.0 mm
High 27
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 34.4, a minimum humidity of 25% and 7 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 17.
FWI at the start34.4
Minimum humidity25 %
Days without rain7
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Zirándaro fire, 30 April 2023
4,184 ha13 daysFWI 34.4Min. humidity 25 %
Coyuca de Catalán fire, March 2019
1,509 ha5 daysFWI 33.9Min. humidity 26 %56 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 1.7 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 13 days, against 10 days.
Only 3 of its 17 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 3 of 17, 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 3.0 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
1.0 mmfirst rain
14 May2 days after it ended
48km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 12 May, and on 14 May 1.0 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 14 of 17, with a median of 3.0 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 23 Apr 2023
After · 19 May 2023
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
The smoke
CAMS · Copernicus
On 4 May 2023 the air beside the fire reached 73 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 33: 2.2 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak73µg/m³
Days over the guideline7days
PM10105µg/m³
Optical depth1.17
WHO 15
28 Apr2 May6 May10 May14 May
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely poor
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table· 204Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 30 April 2023 to 12 May 2023 (13 days). The perimeter dates it from 30 April 2023 to 11 May 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,184 hectares (41.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Coyuca de Catalán (3,289 ha, 1.0 %); Zirándaro (988 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 28.4 °C, humidity dropped to 19 % and gusts hit 48 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 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: 17. Their median duration was 10 days and their median area 2,413 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 3 of its 17 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 3 of 17, 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 3.0 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; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 30 April 2023 to 11 May 2023. 204 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CONAFOR: 5,561 official ha against 4,184 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 2025, 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.