Burned area
satellite only14,438ha
Union of 3 GWIS (Copernicus) perimeters: overlapping areas count once.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus)
- Date
- 29 Jan 2017 – 4 Mar 2017
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
CM · Cameroon · –
Bétaré-Oya fire, January 2017 Bétaré-Oya
Out · last detection 5 Mar 2017, 12:46 UTC
The fire started on 29 January 2017 in Bétaré-Oya, Cameroon, and satellites saw it burning for 35 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 14,438 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 4th largest in East since 2016 (of 224 with a page). Number 2 in Cameroon in 2017, of 293.
Use this data
Compare with…
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-26matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Duration by satellite
satellite only35days
29 Jan 2017 to 4 Mar 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 5 Mar 2017, 12:46 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only29 Jan 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 29 Jan 2017
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
Hotspots
satellite only1,455
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 249 MW.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
- Date
- 29 Jan 2017 – 4 Mar 2017
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only2,726MW
Total radiative power on 1 February 2017; hotspots that day: 188.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 1 Feb 2017
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model31.3FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 6.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 29 Jan 2017, local noon
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings
Weather during the fire
model36.0°C · 12% RH
High of 36.0 °C and minimum humidity of 12% on 23 February 2017; gusts of 35 km/h on 1 February 2017.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 29 Jan 2017 – 4 Mar 2017
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
Living inside
model≈ 80people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 1.1 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2015).
- Source
- GHSL R2023A · JRC
- Date
- calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
This page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
-
logLast day with fire: 25 February 2017 → 4 March 2017.
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
-
· reconstructed GHSLPopulation and built-up area computed
What was saved on 26 October 2026
Every night a snapshot of what the page shows is saved. If anything changes, it appears in the list as a log entry.
- Area
- 14,616 ha
- Dates
- 29 Jan 2017 – 4 Mar 2017
- Name
- Bétaré-Oya
- Official record
- —
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/betare-oya-2017-01?v=2026-10-26A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
CSV for this fire betare-oya-2017-01.csv · daily, no individual hotspots
| fecha | focos_viirs | frp_mw | tmax_c | tmin_c | hr_min_pct | viento_max_kmh | racha_max_kmh | precip_mm | fwi | clase_fwi | dentro_del_incendio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-01-29 | 34 | 178 | 32.6 | 18 | 24 | 10.9 | 21.2 | 0 | 31.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-01-30 | 25 | 128 | 31.5 | 18.4 | 37 | 10.5 | 19.4 | 0.1 | 27.8 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-01-31 | 61 | 582 | 31.7 | 19.7 | 32 | 9.5 | 24.5 | 0.1 | 27.5 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-01 | 188 | 2,726 | 33.3 | 17.8 | 16 | 16.8 | 34.6 | 0 | 41.4 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-02 | 88 | 544 | 34.8 | 19.4 | 15 | 13 | 26.6 | 0 | 40.4 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-03 | 51 | 487 | 32.4 | 16.8 | 24 | 10.4 | 28.1 | 0 | 36.4 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-04 | 39 | 737 | 32.6 | 18.6 | 27 | 8.9 | 20.5 | 0 | 33.7 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-05 | 104 | 2,268 | 35 | 18.8 | 12 | 9.4 | 23.8 | 0 | 40.1 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-06 | 56 | 133 | 34.3 | 17 | 13 | 11.7 | 21.2 | 0 | 42.9 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-07 | 33 | 519 | 34.8 | 17.2 | 9 | 9.5 | 23 | 0 | 43.6 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-08 | 33 | 1,110 | 35.8 | 16.4 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 0 | 43.6 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-09 | 56 | 570 | 35.6 | 16.8 | 10 | 8.7 | 20.9 | 0 | 43.8 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-10 | 40 | 146 | 34.8 | 18.2 | 9 | 11.3 | 25.2 | 0 | 47.1 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-11 | 26 | 528 | 35.6 | 17.9 | 10 | 10.4 | 22.3 | 0 | 46.6 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-12 | 53 | 2,491 | 35.2 | 17.3 | 11 | 12 | 22.7 | 0 | 48.8 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-13 | 65 | 2,152 | 35.2 | 18.1 | 11 | 15.5 | 27.7 | 0 | 53.3 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-02-14 | 78 | 1,512 | 35.7 | 19.1 | 10 | 14.2 | 27.4 | 0 | 52.2 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-02-15 | 68 | 518 | 34.2 | 18.2 | 8 | 11.9 | 21.2 | 0 | 49.9 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-16 | 3 | 27 | 32.9 | 18.7 | 10 | 13.3 | 25.6 | 0 | 52 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-02-17 | 23 | 201 | 31.2 | 19.1 | 14 | 14.7 | 27 | 0 | 51.4 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-02-18 | 30 | 404 | 33.7 | 17.4 | 13 | 10.1 | 25.2 | 0 | 46.6 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-19 | 16 | 287 | 33 | 18.8 | 14 | 11.7 | 20.9 | 0 | 48.7 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-20 | 37 | 300 | 34.9 | 17.4 | 10 | 10.6 | 20.5 | 0 | 47.8 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-21 | 22 | 100 | 35.1 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 24.1 | 0 | 47.5 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-22 | 44 | 484 | 34.8 | 19.6 | 13 | 10.5 | 28.8 | 0 | 48.3 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-23 | 24 | 376 | 36 | 16.1 | 12 | 9.4 | 27.4 | 0 | 47.4 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-24 | 36 | 569 | 35.7 | 17.2 | 8 | 13.3 | 32.4 | 0 | 52.8 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-02-25 | 14 | 225 | 34.5 | 18 | 19 | 8.7 | 24.1 | 0 | 44.1 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-26 | 5 | 10 | 32.4 | 17.7 | 30 | 10.7 | 27 | 0 | 37.9 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-27 | 24 | 303 | 34.6 | 18.7 | 20 | 8.8 | 23.8 | 0 | 37.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-02-28 | 20 | 331 | 35.7 | 18.5 | 11 | 9.4 | 24.1 | 0 | 45.2 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-03-01 | 8 | 60 | 34.7 | 19.6 | 22 | 12 | 23.8 | 0 | 45.3 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-03-02 | 7 | 85 | 34.5 | 20.5 | 24 | 10 | 26.3 | 0 | 41.5 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-03-03 | 12 | 76 | 34.2 | 18.1 | 23 | 10.1 | 22 | 0 | 41.7 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-03-04 | 31 | 925 | 36 | 17.6 | 15 | 9.4 | 23 | 0 | 42.7 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-03-05 | 1 | 6 | 35.4 | 18.7 | 25 | 9.7 | 23 | 0 | 41.2 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-06 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 21.7 | 30 | 10.6 | 23 | 0 | 38.7 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-07 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 21.8 | 30 | 15.5 | 31.7 | 0 | 42.3 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-08 | 0 | 0 | 36.9 | 20.6 | 16 | 9.4 | 31 | 0 | 42.2 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-09 | 0 | 0 | 33.8 | 21 | 33 | 13.1 | 22.7 | 0 | 38.9 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-10 | 0 | 0 | 33.4 | 20.5 | 28 | 9.3 | 20.2 | 0 | 35.7 | alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-11 | 0 | 0 | 34.5 | 20.5 | 22 | 12.8 | 24.1 | 0 | 39.9 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-12 | 0 | 0 | 33.5 | 21.7 | 31 | 11.9 | 23.4 | 0 | 38 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-13 | 0 | 0 | 35.3 | 19.2 | 25 | 10.8 | 22.7 | 0 | 37.2 | alto | 0 |
| 2017-03-14 | 0 | 0 | 35.7 | 21.5 | 27 | 13.1 | 22.7 | 0 | 39.5 | muy_alto | 0 |
It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.
Live widget for your story
It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.
Sources for this page: GWIS (Copernicus), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), GHSL (JRC). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology
- Burnt area
- 14,438ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 35days
- 29 Jan 2017 – 4 Mar 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- communes
- Started on
- 29 Jan
- 2017
- Heat detections
- 1,455
- in a single hotspot: 249 MW
- Danger at start
- 31
- High · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 614MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
29 Jan4 Mar
5 Mar 2017
How it evolved, day by day
1 Feb
14 Feb
22 Feb
2 Mar
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
36°high
35km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity
It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
20% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,920 ha in 2016.
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
Bétaré-Oya where it started14,719 ha reached on 29 Jan1.2 %
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 2015Built-up area1.1 ha
Residents≈ 80
Inside the perimeter there were about 1.1 hectares of built-up land and about 80 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jan | 32.6 °C | 24 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 30 Jan | 31.5 °C | 37 % | 19 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 28 |
| 31 Jan | 31.7 °C | 32 % | 24 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 28 |
| 1 Feb | 33.3 °C | 16 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 2 Feb | 34.8 °C | 15 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 3 Feb | 32.4 °C | 24 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 4 Feb | 32.6 °C | 27 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 5 Feb | 35.0 °C | 12 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 6 Feb | 34.3 °C | 13 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 7 Feb | 34.8 °C | 9 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 8 Feb | 35.8 °C | 10 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 9 Feb | 35.6 °C | 10 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 10 Feb | 34.8 °C | 9 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 11 Feb | 35.6 °C | 10 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 12 Feb | 35.2 °C | 11 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 13 Feb | 35.2 °C | 11 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 14 Feb | 35.7 °C | 10 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 15 Feb | 34.2 °C | 8 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 16 Feb | 32.9 °C | 10 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 17 Feb | 31.2 °C | 14 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 18 Feb | 33.7 °C | 13 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 19 Feb | 33.0 °C | 14 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 20 Feb | 34.9 °C | 10 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 21 Feb | 35.1 °C | 12 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 22 Feb | 34.8 °C | 13 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 23 Feb | 36.0 °C | 12 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 24 Feb | 35.7 °C | 8 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 25 Feb | 34.5 °C | 19 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 26 Feb | 32.4 °C | 30 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 27 Feb | 34.6 °C | 20 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 28 Feb | 35.7 °C | 11 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 1 Mar | 34.7 °C | 22 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 2 Mar | 34.5 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 3 Mar | 34.2 °C | 23 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 4 Mar | 36.0 °C | 15 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 5 Mar after | 35.4 °C | 25 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 6 Mar after | 35.0 °C | 30 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 7 Mar after | 34.0 °C | 30 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 8 Mar after | 36.9 °C | 16 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 9 Mar after | 33.8 °C | 33 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 10 Mar after | 33.4 °C | 28 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 11 Mar after | 34.5 °C | 22 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 12 Mar after | 33.5 °C | 31 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 13 Mar after | 35.3 °C | 25 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 14 Mar after | 35.7 °C | 27 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 31.3, a minimum humidity of 24% and 6 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 25.
FWI at the start
31.3
Minimum humidity
24 %
Days without rain
6
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Bétaré-Oya fire, January 2017
14,438 ha
35 days
FWI 31.3
Min. humidity 24 %
Bélabo fire, March 2020
1,588 ha
12 days
FWI 35.4
Min. humidity 24 %
64 km away, in 2020
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.1 mm on 20 Mar.
Meiganga fire, March 2024
1,848 ha
13 days
FWI 32.0
Min. humidity 26 %
166 km away, in 2024
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.2 mm on 17 Mar.
Nguélébok fire, February 2023
2,820 ha
13 days
FWI 33.3
Min. humidity 24 %
180 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Nguélébok fire, February 2023
1,358 ha
13 days
FWI 33.4
Min. humidity 24 %
185 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Nguélébok fire, February 2023
1,503 ha
13 days
FWI 33.4
Min. humidity 24 %
192 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
What happened to them
- 13 days
- median duration
- 1,500 ha
- median area
- 100 %
- went past 1,000 ha
- 1.5 mm
- rain at the end (median; 9 of 25 had it)
It was 9.6 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 35 days, against 13 days.
None of its 25 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 16 of 25, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.5 mm.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
35km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 4 Mar, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 9 of 25, with a median of 1.5 mm.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
- Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
- Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
- Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
- Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
- They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 22 Jan 2017
After · 11 Mar 2017
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 · 1,455Every 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 time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 11,307 haBétaré-Oya1 February 2019 · 23 days · 1 km away
- 60,062 haBétaré-Oya1 February 2023 · 32 days · 5 km away
- 23,603 haBétaré-Oya12 February 2026 · 31 days · 5 km away
- 10,360 haBétaré-Oya19 January 2020 · 65 days · 6 km away
- 30,699 haBétaré-OyaJanuary 2021 · 48 days · 10 km away
- 15,829 haBétaré-Oya17 February 2026 · 26 days · 15 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Bétaré-Oya fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 29 January 2017 to 4 March 2017 (35 days). The perimeter dates it from 29 January 2017 to 25 February 2017.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 14,438 hectares (144.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Bétaré-Oya (14,719 ha, 1.2 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.0 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 53, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Cameroon (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
- How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
- Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 25. Their median duration was 13 days and their median area 1,500 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. None of its 25 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 16 of 25, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.5 mm.
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
History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
- Last day with fire: 25 February 2017 → 4 March 2017.
RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 29 January 2017 to 25 February 2017. 1,455 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.
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.