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MZ · Mozambique · →

Derre fire, 2 September 2016 Derre, Mocuba, Milange

Out · last detection 2 Oct 2016, 23:37 UTC

The fire started on 2 September 2016 in Derre, Mozambique, and satellites saw it burning for 31 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 116,560 hectares from heat detections, spread across 4 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 10th largest in Zambézia since 2016 (of 845 with a page). The largest in Mozambique in 2016, of 194.

Burnt area
116,560ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
31days
2 Sept 2016 – 2 Oct 2016
Municipalities hit
4
districts
Started on
2 Sept
2016
Heat detections
7,861
in a single hotspot: 201 MW
Danger at start
21
Moderate · FWI index
Energy released
95.6GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

2 Oct 2016
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 2 Sept2 Oct

How it evolved, day by day

2345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293012

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

The weather it burned in

37°high
53km/h · peak gust
14%lowest humidity

It had gone one day 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. Derre where it started
    54,923 ha reached on 28 Aug
    12 %
  2. Mocuba
    33,801 ha reached on 29 Aug
    3.8 %
  3. Milange
    16,428 ha reached on 30 Aug
    3.0 %
  4. Morrumbala
    11,959 ha reached on 29 Aug
    1.5 %

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 Aug 27.0 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
27 Aug 25.6 °C 42 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
28 Aug 26.1 °C 47 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
29 Aug 29.5 °C 38 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
30 Aug 29.1 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
31 Aug 29.3 °C 31 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
1 Sept 28.8 °C 26 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
2 Sept 28.4 °C 30 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
3 Sept 29.1 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
4 Sept 30.6 °C 31 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
5 Sept 31.1 °C 27 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
6 Sept 33.0 °C 27 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
7 Sept 32.3 °C 28 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
8 Sept 34.6 °C 23 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
9 Sept 35.3 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
10 Sept 35.6 °C 16 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
11 Sept 31.7 °C 31 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
12 Sept 31.2 °C 33 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
13 Sept 32.6 °C 23 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
14 Sept 30.7 °C 39 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
15 Sept 32.4 °C 27 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
16 Sept 35.4 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
17 Sept 36.4 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Sept 34.9 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
19 Sept 31.7 °C 35 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
20 Sept 29.5 °C 35 % 32 km/h 1.0 mm High 24
21 Sept 32.3 °C 22 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
22 Sept 34.2 °C 23 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
23 Sept 35.7 °C 19 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
24 Sept 36.3 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
25 Sept 37.0 °C 19 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
26 Sept 31.5 °C 33 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
27 Sept 33.8 °C 27 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Sept 36.6 °C 18 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
29 Sept 35.4 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
30 Sept 34.6 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
1 Oct 36.1 °C 20 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
2 Oct 37.1 °C 22 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
3 Oct after 26.2 °C 57 % 53 km/h 3.5 mm Low 10
4 Oct after 23.8 °C 55 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
5 Oct after 29.8 °C 24 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
6 Oct after 33.9 °C 19 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
7 Oct after 36.3 °C 19 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
8 Oct after 35.7 °C 16 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
9 Oct after 36.9 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
10 Oct after 38.0 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
11 Oct after 35.2 °C 29 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
12 Oct after 37.9 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
13 Oct after 35.4 °C 24 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
14 Oct after 31.8 °C 34 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
15 Oct after 31.6 °C 39 % 30 km/h 0.5 mm High 33
16 Oct after 36.7 °C 25 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
17 Oct after 38.4 °C 20 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Oct after 36.7 °C 21 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
19 Oct after 32.2 °C 38 % 40 km/h 0.5 mm Very high 39

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 26 Aug 2016
After · 9 Oct 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 · 7,861Every 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 Mozambique ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Derre fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 2 September 2016 and 2 October 2016: 31 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 116,560 hectares (1,165.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 4 municipalities: Derre (54,923 ha, 12 %); Mocuba (33,801 ha, 3.8 %); Milange (16,428 ha, 3.0 %); Morrumbala (11,959 ha, 1.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.1 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 53 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 52, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Mozambique (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.

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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 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.