Lavun fire, 12 January 2021 Lavun, Mokwa
The fire started on 12 January 2021 in Lavun, Nigeria, and satellites saw it burning for 13 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,484 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 76th largest in Niger since 2016 (of 271 with a page). Number 39 in Nigeria in 2021, of 184.
The power measured by the satellite is low (18.2 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
- Burnt area
- 4,484ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 13days
- 12 Jan 2021 – 24 Jan 2021
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- local government areas
- Started on
- 12 Jan
- 2021
- Heat detections
- 234
- in a single hotspot: 18 MW
- Danger at start
- 45
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 837MW
- 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 more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
81% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,119 ha in 2016, 1,397 ha in 2017, 1,173 ha in 2019, 2,307 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,619 ha that had burned before.
- 2,198 ha Lavun fire, January 2020 6,074 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,397 ha Lavun fire, January 2017 3,975 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,107 ha Mokwa fire, January 2016 3,325 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Lavun where it started3,958 ha reached on 8 Jan1.1 %
-
554 ha reached on 11 Jan0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan | 36.2 °C | 19 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 13 Jan | 36.5 °C | 15 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 14 Jan | 36.4 °C | 16 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 15 Jan | 35.8 °C | 16 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 16 Jan | 35.7 °C | 16 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 17 Jan | 35.9 °C | 14 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 18 Jan | 35.4 °C | 17 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 19 Jan | 35.0 °C | 15 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 20 Jan | 34.2 °C | 16 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 21 Jan | 34.6 °C | 16 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 22 Jan | 33.7 °C | 16 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 23 Jan | 33.6 °C | 16 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 24 Jan | 35.9 °C | 16 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 25 Jan after | 36.0 °C | 16 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 26 Jan after | 36.5 °C | 16 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 27 Jan after | 36.2 °C | 16 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 28 Jan after | 36.6 °C | 17 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 29 Jan after | 36.3 °C | 15 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 30 Jan after | 36.1 °C | 14 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 31 Jan after | 35.8 °C | 15 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 1 Feb after | 36.3 °C | 15 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 2 Feb after | 35.9 °C | 15 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 3 Feb after | 37.1 °C | 14 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
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 · 234Every 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 Lavun fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 12 January 2021 and 24 January 2021: 13 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 4,484 hectares (44.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Lavun (3,958 ha, 1.1 %); Mokwa (554 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.5 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 32 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 50, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Nigeria (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.
Emergency number: 112
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 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.