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Abadam fire, October 2017 Abadam, Kukawa

Out · last detection 12 Nov 2017, 12:24 UTC

The fire started on 2 October 2017 in Abadam, Nigeria, and satellites saw it burning for 41 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 39,930 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 3th largest in Borno since 2016 (of 472 with a page). The largest in Nigeria in 2017, of 143.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Kaya · 2016Abadam · 2016Kukawa · 2016Kukawa · 2016

Burnt area
39,930ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
41days
2 Oct 2017 – 11 Nov 2017
Municipalities hit
2
local government areas
Started on
2 Oct
2017
Heat detections
2,336
in a single hotspot: 169 MW
Danger at start
57
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
628MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 2 Oct11 Nov
12 Nov 2017

How it evolved, day by day

2 Oct 2017 · 14 MW · 2 3 Oct 2017 · 20 MW · 9 4 Oct 2017 · 57 MW · 6 5 Oct 2017 · 419 MW · 21 6 Oct 2017 · 258 MW · 12 7 Oct 2017 · 429 MW · 34 8 Oct 2017 · 126 MW · 12 9 Oct 2017 · 398 MW · 29 10 Oct 2017 · 417 MW · 32 11 Oct 2017 · 1,057 MW · 92 12 Oct 2017 · 695 MW · 84 13 Oct 2017 · 1,895 MW · 194 14 Oct 2017 · 186 MW · 59 15 Oct 2017 · 831 MW · 68 16 Oct 2017 · 1,719 MW · 116 17 Oct 2017 · 1,089 MW · 89 18 Oct 2017 · 414 MW · 52 19 Oct 2017 · 146 MW · 20 20 Oct 2017 · 397 MW · 34 21 Oct 2017 · 357 MW · 21 22 Oct 2017 · 500 MW · 43 23 Oct 2017 · 1,124 MW · 72 24 Oct 2017 · 1,175 MW · 61 25 Oct 2017 · 613 MW · 57 26 Oct 2017 · 238 MW · 26 27 Oct 2017 · 268 MW · 33 28 Oct 2017 · 558 MW · 33 29 Oct 2017 · 685 MW · 115 30 Oct 2017 · 1,122 MW · 102 31 Oct 2017 · 713 MW · 96 1 Nov 2017 · 657 MW · 59 2 Nov 2017 · 1,716 MW · 111 3 Nov 2017 · 1,402 MW · 109 4 Nov 2017 · 684 MW · 97 5 Nov 2017 · 1,156 MW · 97 6 Nov 2017 · 964 MW · 57 7 Nov 2017 · 157 MW · 16 8 Nov 2017 · 162 MW · 19 9 Nov 2017 · 370 MW · 33 10 Nov 2017 · 762 MW · 80 11 Nov 2017 · 179 MW · 13 12 Nov 2017 · 255 MW · 21
2 Oct 8 Oct 13 Oct 14 Oct 20 Oct 26 Oct 1 Nov 7 Nov

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

The weather it burned in

43°high
47km/h · peak gust
5%lowest humidity

It had gone 11 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

72% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 34,320 ha in 2016. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 28,656 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 25% of the area of London (399 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Abadam where it started
    26,980 ha reached on 2 Oct
    6.7 %
  2. Kukawa
    8,111 ha reached on 2 Oct
    1.7 %

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 2015
Built-up area2.5 ha
Residents≈ 600

Inside the perimeter there were about 2.5 hectares of built-up land and about 600 residents (GHSL 2015, 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.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)
2 Oct 42.9 °C 6 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
3 Oct 39.0 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
4 Oct 38.5 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
5 Oct 41.4 °C 9 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
6 Oct 41.3 °C 8 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
7 Oct 40.8 °C 16 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
8 Oct 41.2 °C 7 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
9 Oct 41.6 °C 5 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
10 Oct 41.7 °C 10 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 81
11 Oct 40.7 °C 11 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 83
12 Oct 38.6 °C 12 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
13 Oct 38.3 °C 10 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
14 Oct 37.7 °C 12 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
15 Oct 37.8 °C 12 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
16 Oct 38.5 °C 14 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
17 Oct 38.3 °C 15 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
18 Oct 37.3 °C 14 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
19 Oct 37.9 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
20 Oct 38.4 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
21 Oct 39.6 °C 9 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
22 Oct 39.9 °C 8 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
23 Oct 39.6 °C 7 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
24 Oct 38.8 °C 7 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
25 Oct 39.9 °C 8 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
26 Oct 37.9 °C 11 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
27 Oct 36.8 °C 16 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
28 Oct 38.2 °C 14 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
29 Oct 38.1 °C 12 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
30 Oct 37.4 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
31 Oct 37.7 °C 8 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
1 Nov 38.2 °C 7 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
2 Nov 38.5 °C 10 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
3 Nov 37.0 °C 10 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
4 Nov 36.4 °C 11 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
5 Nov 35.3 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
6 Nov 35.3 °C 10 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
7 Nov 36.5 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
8 Nov 37.1 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
9 Nov 35.9 °C 11 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
10 Nov 34.7 °C 8 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
11 Nov 36.4 °C 8 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
12 Nov after 38.4 °C 6 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
13 Nov after 37.5 °C 9 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
14 Nov after 39.4 °C 7 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
15 Nov after 40.1 °C 10 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
16 Nov after 39.9 °C 11 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
17 Nov after 40.6 °C 8 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
18 Nov after 40.3 °C 9 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
19 Nov after 39.9 °C 9 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
20 Nov after 38.2 °C 10 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 85
21 Nov after 36.8 °C 12 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 82

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 25 Sept 2017
After · 18 Nov 2017

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 · 2,336Every 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?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 2 October 2017 to 11 November 2017 (41 days). The perimeter dates it from 8 October 2017 to 6 November 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 39,930 hectares (399.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Abadam (26,980 ha, 6.7 %); Kukawa (8,111 ha, 1.7 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 42.9 °C, humidity dropped to 5 % and gusts hit 47 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 83, 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 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 6 November 2017 → 11 November 2017.
  2. Start date: 8 October 2017 → 2 October 2017.

RSS Changes to this page

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.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 5 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 8 October 2017 to 6 November 2017. 2,336 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • 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 2015, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

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.