Ababo fire, November 2017 Jarte Jardega, Abay Chomen, Ababo
The fire started on 26 November 2017 in Ababo, Ethiopia, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,118 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 106th largest in Oromia since 2016 (of 264 with a page). Number 135 in Ethiopia in 2017, of 266.
- Burnt area
- 3,118ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 5days
- 26 Nov 2017 – 30 Nov 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- districts
- Started on
- 26 Nov
- 2017
- Heat detections
- 68
- in a single hotspot: 45 MW
- Danger at start
- 33
- High · FWI index
- Energy released
- 595MW
- 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 33 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
0% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 10 ha in 2016.
What happened to each town
-
1,663 ha reached on 26 Nov1.4 %
-
1,100 ha reached on 26 Nov1.4 %
-
Ababo where it started376 ha reached on 25 Nov0.4 %
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 Nov | 30.9 °C | 16 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 27 Nov | 31.6 °C | 14 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 28 Nov | 31.4 °C | 23 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 29 Nov | 29.9 °C | 30 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 30 Nov | 32.2 °C | 22 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 1 Dec after | 31.7 °C | 23 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 2 Dec after | 31.1 °C | 22 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 3 Dec after | 31.6 °C | 19 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 4 Dec after | 31.9 °C | 20 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 5 Dec after | 31.2 °C | 22 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 6 Dec after | 31.3 °C | 23 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 7 Dec after | 31.6 °C | 21 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 8 Dec after | 31.5 °C | 19 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 9 Dec after | 32.0 °C | 23 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 10 Dec after | 31.5 °C | 18 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
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 · 68Every 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 Ababo fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 26 November 2017 and 30 November 2017: 5 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 3,118 hectares (31.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Jarte Jardega (1,663 ha, 1.4 %); Abay Chomen (1,100 ha, 1.4 %); Ababo (376 ha, 0.4 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 32.2 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 33 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, class High.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Ethiopia (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 (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.