How the land heals — near Laç, Albania

2304 hectares burned near Laç, Albania — the fire started on August 4, 2017. Below, one satellite image per year — always in the same season — shows how the vegetation returns. The detailed day-by-day image series is on the fire’s original case page van.

The burned area in 2017-ben The same area in 2026-ben 2017 2026

Year by year

2017-08-10
Yearly image
What does this series show? The first image was taken right after the fire (August 10, 2017) — the dark patch is the fresh burn scar. Each following image was taken once a year, on the clearest day around the anniversary — so the seasonal colors are comparable. Where the patch gradually turns green again, vegetation is recovering; where it stays pale or grey after years, recovery is slower. The images come from the Sentinel-2 satellites — 10 yearly images.

Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2017–2026 · satellite imagery: Copernicus Sentinel-2 · the fire’s day-by-day series · more recovery pages