# Wildfires in Gambia in 2020

23 fires larger than 1,000 hectares in Gambia in 2020, with 40,224 hectares burned according to their perimeters. Here is the whole year: what the official record says, when and where it burned and what the weather was like.

## The year in a few sentences

- According to Copernicus GWIS, 130,003 hectares burned in Gambia in 2020: 1.2 times the average of the other years from 2012 to 2024 (107,345 ha). Only 2023, 2022 and 2024 burned more. (Copernicus GWIS)
- The worst week was 5 February to 11 February: 24,839 hectares burned in seven days, 19% of the year according to Copernicus GWIS. (Copernicus GWIS)
- The largest fire was the Jarra East fire, which started on 21 February 2020 and burned 3,030 hectares: 8% of the area of the year's 23 fires with a page. (WorldFires)

## Month by month

Hectares within the perimeters by the month the fire started. Tap a month to see it on the map.

| Month | Fires | Hectares |
|---|---:|---:|
| January | 5 | 7,764 |
| February | 12 | 21,968 |
| March | 3 | 5,205 |
| April | 1 | 1,059 |
| May | 1 | 2,855 |
| June | 0 | 0 |
| July | 0 | 0 |
| August | 0 | 0 |
| September | 0 | 0 |
| October | 0 | 0 |
| November | 0 | 0 |
| December | 1 | 1,373 |

## Week by week, against other years (Copernicus GWIS)

The average and the band are the Copernicus GWIS climatology for 2012–2025, which includes 2020 itself.

| Week | 2020 | That week | average | lowest and highest |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| 1 (1 Jan–7 Jan) | 6,144 | 6,144 | 2,741 | 0–6,999 |
| 2 (8 Jan–14 Jan) | 10,021 | 3,877 | 6,108 | 243–13,696 |
| 3 (15 Jan–21 Jan) | 14,237 | 4,216 | 10,155 | 4,297–17,852 |
| 4 (22 Jan–28 Jan) | 17,618 | 3,381 | 16,154 | 6,665–26,372 |
| 5 (29 Jan–4 Feb) | 25,808 | 8,190 | 20,919 | 9,069–34,362 |
| 6 (5 Feb–11 Feb) | 50,647 | 24,839 | 29,975 | 9,943–56,403 |
| 7 (12 Feb–18 Feb) | 57,133 | 6,486 | 36,142 | 15,569–64,782 |
| 8 (19 Feb–25 Feb) | 60,440 | 3,307 | 43,164 | 20,935–69,821 |
| 9 (26 Feb–3 Mar) | 69,330 | 8,890 | 49,989 | 21,180–76,116 |
| 10 (4 Mar–10 Mar) | 71,956 | 2,626 | 55,394 | 27,520–84,736 |
| 11 (11 Mar–17 Mar) | 75,545 | 3,589 | 60,350 | 28,021–91,655 |
| 12 (18 Mar–24 Mar) | 81,609 | 6,064 | 63,587 | 36,452–93,919 |
| 13 (25 Mar–31 Mar) | 84,897 | 3,288 | 67,503 | 41,230–95,826 |
| 14 (1 Apr–7 Apr) | 90,554 | 5,657 | 70,472 | 44,161–100,891 |
| 15 (8 Apr–14 Apr) | 92,337 | 1,783 | 74,135 | 44,957–102,436 |
| 16 (15 Apr–21 Apr) | 98,669 | 6,332 | 79,125 | 45,588–110,172 |
| 17 (22 Apr–28 Apr) | 103,221 | 4,552 | 82,886 | 46,030–122,355 |
| 18 (29 Apr–5 May) | 104,465 | 1,244 | 86,003 | 46,804–125,788 |
| 19 (6 May–12 May) | 109,129 | 4,664 | 88,281 | 47,148–128,685 |
| 20 (13 May–19 May) | 111,372 | 2,243 | 90,109 | 47,983–131,612 |
| 21 (20 May–26 May) | 112,242 | 870 | 92,136 | 49,067–131,612 |
| 22 (27 May–2 Jun) | 112,821 | 579 | 93,679 | 49,249–132,396 |
| 23 (3 Jun–9 Jun) | 113,365 | 544 | 94,760 | 50,357–132,396 |
| 24 (10 Jun–16 Jun) | 113,537 | 172 | 95,367 | 50,589–132,396 |
| 25 (17 Jun–23 Jun) | 115,372 | 1,835 | 96,000 | 51,769–132,805 |
| 26 (24 Jun–30 Jun) | 115,372 | 0 | 96,188 | 52,523–132,952 |
| 27 (1 Jul–7 Jul) | 115,372 | 0 | 96,208 | 52,805–132,952 |
| 28 (8 Jul–14 Jul) | 115,521 | 149 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 29 (15 Jul–21 Jul) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 30 (22 Jul–28 Jul) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 31 (29 Jul–4 Aug) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 32 (5 Aug–11 Aug) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 33 (12 Aug–18 Aug) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 34 (19 Aug–25 Aug) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 35 (26 Aug–1 Sept) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 36 (2 Sept–8 Sept) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 37 (9 Sept–15 Sept) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 38 (16 Sept–22 Sept) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 39 (23 Sept–29 Sept) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 40 (30 Sept–6 Oct) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 41 (7 Oct–13 Oct) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 42 (14 Oct–20 Oct) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 43 (21 Oct–27 Oct) | 115,521 | 0 | 96,295 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 44 (28 Oct–3 Nov) | 115,659 | 138 | 96,343 | 52,805–133,301 |
| 45 (4 Nov–10 Nov) | 116,706 | 1,047 | 96,673 | 52,805–135,977 |
| 46 (11 Nov–17 Nov) | 119,346 | 2,640 | 97,294 | 52,805–139,376 |
| 47 (18 Nov–24 Nov) | 120,001 | 655 | 97,917 | 52,805–140,891 |
| 48 (25 Nov–1 Dec) | 121,919 | 1,918 | 98,891 | 53,266–143,669 |
| 49 (2 Dec–8 Dec) | 122,915 | 996 | 100,479 | 53,532–150,444 |
| 50 (9 Dec–15 Dec) | 123,934 | 1,019 | 102,143 | 53,841–153,910 |
| 51 (16 Dec–22 Dec) | 124,636 | 702 | 104,336 | 54,123–155,722 |
| 52 (23 Dec–29 Dec) | 129,342 | 4,706 | 107,026 | 54,417–165,012 |

## Largest recorded fires

- [Jarra East fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/jarra-east-2020-02.md) · 3,030 ha
- [Kiang West fire, May 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-05.md) · 2,855 ha
- [Wuli West fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/wuli-west-2020-02.md) · 2,302 ha
- [Kiang West fire, 6 February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-02-2.md) · 2,245 ha
- [Kiang West fire, 27 January 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-01-2.md) · 2,181 ha
- [Kiang Central fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-central-2020-02.md) · 2,150 ha
- [Nianija fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/nianija-2020-02.md) · 2,025 ha
- [Foni Kansala fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/foni-kansala-2020-02.md) · 1,984 ha
- [Kombo East fire, March 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kombo-east-2020-03.md) · 1,915 ha
- [Upper Fuladu West fire, March 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/upper-fuladu-west-2020-03.md) · 1,652 ha
- [Jarra East fire, March 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/jarra-east-2020-03.md) · 1,638 ha
- [Kiang West fire, 31 January 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-01-3.md) · 1,560 ha
- [Kiang West fire, 5 February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-02.md) · 1,557 ha
- [Kiang West fire, 8 January 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kiang-west-2020-01.md) · 1,530 ha
- [Sabach Sanjar fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/sabach-sanjar-2020-02.md) · 1,483 ha
- [Niamina West fire, 24 February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/niamina-west-2020-02-2.md) · 1,455 ha
- [Niani fire, January 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/niani-2020-01.md) · 1,379 ha
- [Niani fire, December 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/niani-2020-12.md) · 1,373 ha
- [Lower Fuladu West fire, February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/lower-fuladu-west-2020-02.md) · 1,347 ha
- [Niamina West fire, 24 February 2020](https://worldfires.org/en/fire/niamina-west-2020-02.md) · 1,293 ha

## Sources and limits

Fire-page areas are satellite-measured perimeters and may differ from official statistics. The yearly and weekly record is the Copernicus GWIS estimate. The FWI is our own calculation from ERA5 at each fire's location: it is not an official danger warning.

## How to cite

WorldFires, “Wildfires in Gambia in 2020”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/gambia/2020 (accessed 15 November 2026). Sources: Copernicus GWIS, WorldFires, NASA FIRMS (VIIRS).

> Experimental site with automatically processed open data: it may contain errors and is not an official emergency service. If there is a fire, call your local emergency number.

Full version with maps: https://worldfires.org/en/country/gambia/2020