Burned area
satellite only3,200ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus)
- Date
- 12 May 2025 – 15 May 2025
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
GN · Guinea · –
Koumbia fire, 12 May 2025 Koumbia, Wendou Mbour
Out · last detection 15 May 2025, 14:12 UTC
The fire started on 12 May 2025 in Koumbia, Guinea, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,200 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 48th largest in Boké since 2016 (of 195 with a page). Number 11 in Guinea in 2025, of 53.
Use this data
Compare with…
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-24matches 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 only4days
12 May 2025 to 15 May 2025: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 15 May 2025, 14:12 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 only12 May 2025
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 12 May 2025
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
Hotspots
satellite only159
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 255 MW.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
- Date
- 12 May 2025 – 15 May 2025
+− 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 only3,831MW
Total radiative power on 12 May 2025; hotspots that day: 95.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 12 May 2025
+− 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
model23.0FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 3.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 12 May 2025, 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
model38.1°C · 38% RH
High of 38.1 °C and minimum humidity of 38% on 14 May 2025; gusts of 36 km/h on 15 May 2025.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 12 May 2025 – 15 May 2025
- 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≈ 150people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 0.63 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2025).
- 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
-
· reconstructed GHSLPopulation and built-up area computed
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
What was saved on 24 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
- 3,200 ha
- Dates
- 12 May 2025 – 15 May 2025
- Name
- Koumbia
- Official record
- —
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/koumbia-2025-05-4?v=2026-10-24A 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 koumbia-2025-05-4.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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05-12 | 95 | 3,831 | 38 | 25.9 | 43 | 14.7 | 30.6 | 0.2 | 23 | alto | 1 |
| 2025-05-13 | 43 | 753 | 37.5 | 25.8 | 41 | 12.3 | 26.3 | 0 | 22.6 | alto | 1 |
| 2025-05-14 | 15 | 688 | 38.1 | 25.6 | 38 | 15.7 | 32.8 | 0 | 25.8 | alto | 1 |
| 2025-05-15 | 6 | 108 | 38 | 26.4 | 44 | 14 | 35.6 | 0.7 | 21.1 | moderado | 1 |
| 2025-05-16 | 0 | 0 | 36.2 | 25.6 | 48 | 12.8 | 31 | 0.1 | 21 | moderado | 0 |
| 2025-05-17 | 0 | 0 | 37.6 | 25.3 | 31 | 13.2 | 28.1 | 0 | 27.8 | alto | 0 |
| 2025-05-18 | 0 | 0 | 36.3 | 25.1 | 40 | 13 | 25.9 | 0 | 28.1 | alto | 0 |
| 2025-05-19 | 0 | 0 | 38.8 | 24.2 | 28 | 15.8 | 32.4 | 0 | 34 | alto | 0 |
| 2025-05-20 | 0 | 0 | 37.4 | 25 | 43 | 14.2 | 25.9 | 0 | 29.6 | alto | 0 |
| 2025-05-21 | 0 | 0 | 37.8 | 25.3 | 38 | 17.9 | 40 | 0 | 33.2 | alto | 0 |
| 2025-05-22 | 0 | 0 | 37.4 | 25.9 | 42 | 15.5 | 37.1 | 1.2 | 23.6 | 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
- 3,200ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 12 May 2025 – 15 May 2025
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- sub-prefectures
- Started on
- 12 May
- 2025
- Heat detections
- 159
- in a single hotspot: 255 MW
- Danger at start
- 23
- High · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 1.3GW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
12 May15 May
15 May 2025
How it evolved, day by day
12 May
13 May
14 May
15 May
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
38°high
36km/h · peak gust
38%lowest humidity
It had gone 3 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.2 mm on 22 May.
This area had burned before
75% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 276 ha in 2016, 4 ha in 2017, 1,150 ha in 2018, 1,500 ha in 2019, 1,419 ha in 2022, 430 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,411 ha that had burned before.
- 1,481 ha Wendou Mbour fire, May 2019 5,531 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,408 ha Wendou Mbour fire, May 2022 6,530 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 495 ha Koumbia fire, April 2018 12,928 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 188 ha Koumbia fire, April 2016 7,869 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 19 ha Koumbia fire, May 2019 3,057 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 4 ha Koumbia fire, April 2017 3,376 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
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
-
Koumbia where it started2,062 ha reached on 12 May0.6 %
-
1,157 ha reached on 12 May0.8 %
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 2025Built-up area0.63 ha
Residents≈ 150
Inside the perimeter there were about 0.63 hectares of built-up land and about 150 residents (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May | 38.0 °C | 43 % | 31 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 23 |
| 13 May | 37.5 °C | 41 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 14 May | 38.1 °C | 38 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 15 May | 38.0 °C | 44 % | 36 km/h | 0.7 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 16 May after | 36.2 °C | 48 % | 31 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 17 May after | 37.6 °C | 31 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 18 May after | 36.3 °C | 40 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 19 May after | 38.8 °C | 28 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 20 May after | 37.4 °C | 43 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 21 May after | 37.8 °C | 38 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 22 May after | 37.4 °C | 42 % | 37 km/h | 1.2 mm | High 24 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 23.0, a minimum humidity of 43% and 3 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 33.
FWI at the start
23.0
Minimum humidity
43 %
Days without rain
3
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Koumbia fire, 12 May 2025
3,200 ha
4 days
FWI 23.0
Min. humidity 43 %
Wendou Mbour fire, May 2019
2,418 ha
6 days
FWI 24.8
Min. humidity 44 %
31 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.8 mm on 7 May.
Baguinet fire, April 2016
2,186 ha
6 days
FWI 23.2
Min. humidity 44 %
114 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Missira fire, May 2024
2,200 ha
4 days
FWI 25.0
Min. humidity 42 %
58 km away, in 2024
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 6.0 mm on 17 May.
Moussayah fire, April 2016
3,266 ha
10 days
FWI 23.9
Min. humidity 43 %
236 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.7 mm on 27 Apr.
Daramagnaky fire, April 2016
2,559 ha
15 days
FWI 25.4
Min. humidity 44 %
85 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.0 mm on 14 May.
What happened to them
- 8 days
- median duration
- 2,678 ha
- median area
- 100 %
- went past 1,000 ha
- 2.5 mm
- rain at the end (median; 22 of 33 had it)
It burned an area similar to its twins (3,200 ha against a median of 2,678 ha) and lasted 4 days, against 8 days.
In 11 of 33, 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 2.5 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
1.2 mmfirst rain
22 May7 days after it ended
36km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 15 May, and on 22 May 1.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 22 of 33, with a median of 2.5 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 · 5 May 2025
After · 22 May 2025
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.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 12 May 2025 the air beside the fire reached 184 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 96: 6.4 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak184 µg/m³
Days over the guideline9 days
PM10227 µg/m³
Optical depth1.87
WHO 15
10 May12 May14 May16 May18 May
Good
Fair
Moderate
Poor
Very poor
Extremely poor
Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.
Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Detections table · 159Every 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
- 7,869 haKoumbia28 April 2016 · 11 days · 9 km away
- 12,928 haKoumbia19 April 2018 · 22 days · 10 km away
- 7,715 haMissira17 April 2024 · 22 days · 26 km away
- 18,136 haWendou Mbour27 April 2016 · 14 days · 27 km away
- 7,510 haWendou Mbour3 May 2020 · 9 days · 29 km away
- 18,407 haMissira13 April 2017 · 25 days · 35 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Koumbia fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 12 May 2025 and 15 May 2025: 4 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 3,200 hectares (32.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Koumbia (2,062 ha, 0.6 %); Wendou Mbour (1,157 ha, 0.8 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 38.1 °C, humidity dropped to 38 % and gusts hit 36 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 26, class High.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Guinea (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: 33. Their median duration was 8 days and their median area 2,678 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 11 of 33, 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 2.5 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 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
No changes since 24 October 2026.
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.
- Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 159 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 2025, 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 (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.