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Abadam fire, October 2016 Abadam, Kukawa

Out · last detection 18 Nov 2016, 12:56 UTC

The fire started on 16 October 2016 in Abadam, Nigeria, and satellites saw it burning for 34 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 31,926 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 5th largest in Borno since 2016 (of 457 with a page). Number 2 in Nigeria in 2016, of 198.

Burnt area
31,926ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
34days
16 Oct 2016 – 18 Nov 2016
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
16 Oct
2016
Heat detections
2,434
in a single hotspot: 201 MW
Danger at start
73
Very extreme · FWI index
Energy released
25.8GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

18 Nov 2016
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 16 Oct18 Nov

How it evolved, day by day

16171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

42°high
56km/h · peak gust
4%lowest humidity

It had gone 24 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

  1. Abadam where it started
    23,462 ha reached on 9 Oct
    5.8 %
  2. Kukawa
    8,677 ha reached on 10 Oct
    1.8 %

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)
16 Oct 41.7 °C 4 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
17 Oct 41.2 °C 6 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
18 Oct 40.8 °C 7 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 81
19 Oct 39.6 °C 18 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
20 Oct 39.9 °C 9 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
21 Oct 39.8 °C 8 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
22 Oct 38.8 °C 10 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
23 Oct 38.0 °C 9 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
24 Oct 38.1 °C 9 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
25 Oct 38.2 °C 14 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
26 Oct 37.9 °C 13 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
27 Oct 37.6 °C 11 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
28 Oct 37.4 °C 12 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
29 Oct 39.1 °C 13 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
30 Oct 38.7 °C 17 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
31 Oct 40.1 °C 13 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
1 Nov 40.5 °C 9 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
2 Nov 38.4 °C 11 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 88
3 Nov 36.2 °C 12 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
4 Nov 36.5 °C 12 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
5 Nov 36.8 °C 12 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
6 Nov 36.7 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
7 Nov 37.4 °C 10 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
8 Nov 38.4 °C 8 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
9 Nov 37.7 °C 9 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
10 Nov 38.8 °C 8 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
11 Nov 38.1 °C 10 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
12 Nov 37.6 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
13 Nov 39.0 °C 11 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
14 Nov 38.0 °C 11 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
15 Nov 39.0 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
16 Nov 38.8 °C 12 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
17 Nov 37.8 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
18 Nov 38.3 °C 13 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
19 Nov after 38.3 °C 12 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
20 Nov after 39.4 °C 9 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
21 Nov after 40.6 °C 9 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
22 Nov after 39.8 °C 12 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
23 Nov after 39.3 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
24 Nov after 38.5 °C 11 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
25 Nov after 37.1 °C 11 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
26 Nov after 37.0 °C 9 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
27 Nov after 37.7 °C 9 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
28 Nov after 39.5 °C 8 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 9 Oct 2016
After · 25 Nov 2016

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 · 2,434Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Nigeria ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Abadam fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 16 October 2016 and 18 November 2016: 34 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 31,926 hectares (319.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Abadam (23,462 ha, 5.8 %); Kukawa (8,677 ha, 1.8 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 41.7 °C, humidity dropped to 4 % and gusts hit 56 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 88, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Nigeria (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.

Emergency number: 112

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
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 112.

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 ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (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.