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AO · Angola · →

Dirico fire, July 2019 Dirico, Mavinga

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2019, 11:37 UTC

The fire started on 23 July 2019 in Dirico, Angola, and satellites saw it burning for 56 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 93,844 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 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 2th largest in Cuando Cubango since 2016 (of 659 with a page). The largest in Angola in 2019, of 207.

Burnt area
93,844ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
56days
23 Jul 2019 – 16 Sept 2019
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
23 Jul
2019
Heat detections
3,918
in a single hotspot: 248 MW
Danger at start
45
Very high · FWI index
Energy released
53.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

17 Sept 2019
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 23 Jul16 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

23242526272829303112345689101112131415161718192021222324252627282930311234567891011121314151617

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

The weather it burned in

35°high
55km/h · peak gust
6%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

65% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 32,295 ha in 2016, 32,489 ha in 2017, 14,156 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 61,026 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Dirico where it started
    93,212 ha reached on 23 Jul
    5.0 %
  2. Mavinga
    1,000 ha reached on 20 Aug
    0.0 %

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)
23 Jul 28.1 °C 16 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
24 Jul 28.3 °C 12 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
25 Jul 28.4 °C 11 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
26 Jul 28.6 °C 12 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
27 Jul 28.0 °C 9 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
28 Jul 27.4 °C 10 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
29 Jul 27.9 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
30 Jul 28.6 °C 11 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
31 Jul 28.8 °C 10 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
1 Aug 28.7 °C 11 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
2 Aug 29.0 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
3 Aug 30.4 °C 16 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
4 Aug 31.1 °C 20 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
5 Aug 31.2 °C 23 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
6 Aug 30.7 °C 23 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
7 Aug 31.5 °C 22 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
8 Aug 32.4 °C 19 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
9 Aug 32.3 °C 14 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
10 Aug 31.1 °C 14 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
11 Aug 29.5 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
12 Aug 30.2 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
13 Aug 30.3 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
14 Aug 30.6 °C 13 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
15 Aug 29.6 °C 16 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
16 Aug 27.0 °C 20 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
17 Aug 27.3 °C 17 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
18 Aug 28.6 °C 13 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
19 Aug 27.8 °C 8 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
20 Aug 27.3 °C 15 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
21 Aug 27.4 °C 15 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
22 Aug 25.9 °C 23 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
23 Aug 26.3 °C 16 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
24 Aug 27.0 °C 13 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
25 Aug 27.6 °C 13 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
26 Aug 28.8 °C 12 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
27 Aug 31.5 °C 13 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
28 Aug 32.6 °C 16 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
29 Aug 34.6 °C 15 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
30 Aug 32.9 °C 24 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
31 Aug 33.0 °C 8 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
1 Sept 28.4 °C 6 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
2 Sept 31.4 °C 9 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
3 Sept 32.2 °C 18 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
4 Sept 33.0 °C 20 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
5 Sept 34.4 °C 14 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
6 Sept 35.0 °C 13 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
7 Sept 30.8 °C 15 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
8 Sept 25.9 °C 19 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
9 Sept 27.0 °C 10 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
10 Sept 29.2 °C 10 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
11 Sept 31.4 °C 8 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
12 Sept 34.1 °C 7 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
13 Sept 34.0 °C 8 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
14 Sept 34.8 °C 7 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
15 Sept 35.4 °C 7 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
16 Sept 34.6 °C 8 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
17 Sept after 33.8 °C 9 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
18 Sept after 33.6 °C 12 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
19 Sept after 33.6 °C 9 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
20 Sept after 33.3 °C 8 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
21 Sept after 33.8 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
22 Sept after 35.7 °C 8 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
23 Sept after 33.3 °C 10 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
24 Sept after 34.3 °C 8 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
25 Sept after 34.2 °C 14 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
26 Sept after 28.7 °C 26 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 16 Jul 2019
After · 23 Sept 2019

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 · 3,918Every 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 Angola ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Dirico fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 23 July 2019 and 16 September 2019: 56 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 93,844 hectares (938.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Dirico (93,212 ha, 5.0 %); Mavinga (1,000 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.4 °C, humidity dropped to 6 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 69, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Angola (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 (Public Domain). 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.