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CI · Côte d’Ivoire · –

Bléniméouin fire, January 2020 Guinglo-Tahouaké, Bagohouo, Gohouo-Zagna

Out · last detection 20 Feb 2020, 01:55 UTC

The fire started on 24 January 2020 in Bléniméouin, Côte d’Ivoire, and satellites saw it burning for 28 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 22,000 hectares from heat detections, spread across 6 municipalities.

It is the 3th largest in Montagnes since 2016 (of 113 with a page). The largest in Côte d’Ivoire in 2020, of 159.

Burnt area
22,000ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
28days
24 Jan 2020 – 20 Feb 2020
Municipalities hit
6
sub-prefectures
Started on
24 Jan
2020
Heat detections
1,584
in a single hotspot: 154 MW
Danger at start
15
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
483MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 24 Jan20 Feb
20 Feb 2020

How it evolved, day by day

24 Jan 2020 · 11 MW · 5 25 Jan 2020 · 119 MW · 18 26 Jan 2020 · 30 MW · 17 27 Jan 2020 · 14 MW · 3 28 Jan 2020 · 34 MW · 4 29 Jan 2020 · 40 MW · 21 30 Jan 2020 · 16 MW · 11 31 Jan 2020 · 166 MW · 48 1 Feb 2020 · 31 MW · 9 2 Feb 2020 · 95 MW · 14 3 Feb 2020 · 339 MW · 38 4 Feb 2020 · 4,612 MW · 262 5 Feb 2020 · 600 MW · 176 6 Feb 2020 · 137 MW · 39 7 Feb 2020 · 993 MW · 47 8 Feb 2020 · 1,420 MW · 143 9 Feb 2020 · 576 MW · 167 10 Feb 2020 · 152 MW · 56 12 Feb 2020 · 4 MW · 1 13 Feb 2020 · 257 MW · 31 14 Feb 2020 · 538 MW · 78 15 Feb 2020 · 1,581 MW · 187 16 Feb 2020 · 1,049 MW · 127 17 Feb 2020 · 156 MW · 46 18 Feb 2020 · 23 MW · 13 19 Feb 2020 · 17 MW · 7 20 Feb 2020 · 23 MW · 16
24 Jan 30 Jan 4 Feb 12 Feb 18 Feb

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

The weather it burned in

34°high
34km/h · peak gust
10%lowest humidity

It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 9.3 mm on 21 Feb.

This area had burned before

63% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,293 ha in 2017, 13,969 ha in 2018, 2,016 ha in 2019. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 13,944 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 14% of the area of London (220 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. 11,158 ha reached on 26 Jan
    29 %
  2. 5,712 ha reached on 4 Feb
    12 %
  3. 4,227 ha reached on 25 Jan
    24 %
  4. Bléniméouin where it started
    2,297 ha reached on 24 Jan
    10 %
  5. 664 ha reached on 13 Feb
    1.7 %
  6. 8 ha
    0.0 %

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 2020
Built-up area1.5 ha
Residents≈ 300

Inside the perimeter there were about 1.5 hectares of built-up land and about 300 residents (GHSL 2020, 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)
24 Jan 31.6 °C 30 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
25 Jan 31.7 °C 33 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 15
26 Jan 30.8 °C 38 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
27 Jan 31.5 °C 37 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
28 Jan 30.1 °C 46 % 23 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 17
29 Jan 31.3 °C 35 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
30 Jan 32.1 °C 30 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
31 Jan 32.0 °C 34 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
1 Feb 31.3 °C 35 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
2 Feb 33.0 °C 29 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
3 Feb 32.9 °C 12 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
4 Feb 32.5 °C 11 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
5 Feb 31.7 °C 24 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
6 Feb 31.2 °C 29 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
7 Feb 33.3 °C 19 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
8 Feb 33.3 °C 10 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
9 Feb 32.2 °C 24 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
10 Feb 31.1 °C 44 % 30 km/h 8.6 mm Very low 4
11 Feb 26.6 °C 50 % 25 km/h 0.1 mm Low 7
12 Feb 31.5 °C 13 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
13 Feb 31.7 °C 19 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
14 Feb 31.8 °C 20 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
15 Feb 32.6 °C 24 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
16 Feb 33.8 °C 17 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
17 Feb 32.7 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
18 Feb 32.0 °C 38 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
19 Feb 33.4 °C 37 % 27 km/h 2.3 mm Moderate 12
20 Feb 32.3 °C 47 % 26 km/h 1.4 mm Low 10
21 Feb after 33.3 °C 41 % 32 km/h 9.3 mm Very low 3

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 15.0, a minimum humidity of 30% and 1 day without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 21.

FWI at the start 15.0
Minimum humidity 30 %
Days without rain 1
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Nzoo fire, January 2017
4,103 ha 5 days FWI 15.4 Min. humidity 32 % 139 km away, in 2017

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 13.7 mm on 20 Jan.

What happened to them

9 days
median duration
1,622 ha
median area
100 %
went past 1,000 ha
3.6 mm
rain at the end (median; 16 of 21 had it)

It was 13.6 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 28 days, against 9 days.

Only 1 of its 21 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 5 of 21, 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 3.6 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

9.3 mmfirst rain
21 Febthe day after it ended
34km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 20 Feb, and on 21 Feb 9.3 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 16 of 21, with a median of 3.6 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 17 Jan 2020
After · 27 Feb 2020

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 · 1,584Every 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 Côte d’Ivoire

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Bléniméouin fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 24 January 2020 and 20 February 2020: 28 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 22,000 hectares (220.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 6 municipalities: Guinglo-Tahouaké (11,158 ha, 29 %); Bagohouo (5,712 ha, 12 %); Gohouo-Zagna (4,227 ha, 24 %); Bléniméouin (2,297 ha, 10 %); Guéhiébly (664 ha, 1.7 %); Bangolo (8 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.8 °C, humidity dropped to 10 % and gusts hit 34 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 35, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Côte d’Ivoire (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: 21. Their median duration was 9 days and their median area 1,622 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 1 of its 21 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 5 of 21, 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 3.6 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.

Emergency number: 180 · Emergency number and official warnings

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.
  1. Area: 23,909 → 22,000 ha.

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
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 180.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 5 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 1,584 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 2020, 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 ADM3 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). 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.