Fashoda fire, 17 November 2021 Panyikang, Fashoda, Malakal
The fire started on 17 November 2021 in Fashoda, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 11 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 36,698 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 9th largest in Upper Nile since 2016 (of 284 with a page). Number 5 in South Sudan in 2021, of 212.
- Burnt area
- 36,698ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 11days
- 17 Nov 2021 – 27 Nov 2021
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- counties
- Started on
- 17 Nov
- 2021
- Heat detections
- 1,308
- in a single hotspot: 168 MW
- Danger at start
- 36
- High · FWI index
- Energy released
- 15.8GW
- sum of detected power
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
84% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 10,155 ha in 2016, 13,823 ha in 2017, 1,804 ha in 2018, 19,213 ha in 2019, 7,950 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 30,648 ha that had burned before.
- 8,258 ha Malakal fire, November 2019 22,311 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 4,438 ha Panyikang fire, December 2017 16,784 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 4,118 ha Panyikang fire, November 2019 12,767 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 3,151 ha Panyikang fire, November 2019 31,574 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,941 ha Panyikang fire, December 2017 6,781 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 592 ha Fashoda fire, December 2017 5,303 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 10 ha Fashoda fire, December 2018 7,572 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1 ha Fashoda fire, January 2016 7,431 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
16,581 ha reached on 24 Nov3.3 %
-
Fashoda where it started12,871 ha reached on 14 Nov3.6 %
-
7,485 ha reached on 14 Nov9.8 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Nov | 37.3 °C | 13 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 15 Nov | 36.2 °C | 11 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 16 Nov | 36.4 °C | 14 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 17 Nov | 37.9 °C | 16 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 18 Nov | 38.3 °C | 19 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 19 Nov | 38.0 °C | 20 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 20 Nov | 37.2 °C | 17 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 21 Nov | 36.0 °C | 13 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 22 Nov | 36.0 °C | 12 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 23 Nov | 36.1 °C | 14 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 24 Nov | 36.8 °C | 19 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 25 Nov | 36.6 °C | 14 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 26 Nov | 37.1 °C | 16 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 27 Nov | 37.0 °C | 22 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 28 Nov after | 38.4 °C | 21 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 29 Nov after | 36.2 °C | 27 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 30 Nov after | 37.3 °C | 23 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 1 Dec after | 38.2 °C | 17 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 2 Dec after | 38.2 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 3 Dec after | 38.4 °C | 16 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 4 Dec after | 38.6 °C | 16 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 5 Dec after | 38.6 °C | 14 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 6 Dec after | 37.7 °C | 14 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 7 Dec after | 38.3 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 8 Dec after | 38.2 °C | 13 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 9 Dec after | 37.5 °C | 15 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 59 |
| 10 Dec after | 37.8 °C | 15 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 11 Dec after | 38.3 °C | 14 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 12 Dec after | 38.6 °C | 12 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 13 Dec after | 38.1 °C | 13 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 14 Dec after | 37.9 °C | 12 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
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 · 1,308Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Fashoda fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 17 November 2021 and 27 November 2021: 11 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 36,698 hectares (367.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Panyikang (16,581 ha, 3.3 %); Fashoda (12,871 ha, 3.6 %); Malakal (7,485 ha, 9.8 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 38.6 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 51, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of South Sudan (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.
Report an error
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.