Limbang fire, March 2019 Malaysia
The fire started on 14 March 2019 in Limbang, Malaysia, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 679 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 42th largest in Sarawak since 2016 (of 70 with a page). Number 33 in Malaysia in 2019, of 72.
We have the GWIS perimeter for this fire, but the VIIRS sensors did not capture it in enough detail: no day-by-day evolution, but the split by municipality is there.
- Burnt area
- 679ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 4days
- 14 Mar 2019 – 17 Mar 2019
- Municipalities hit
- 0
- districts
- Started on
- 14 Mar
- 2019
- Danger at start
- 4
- Very low · FWI index
Where it burned
The weather it burned in
It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.3 mm on 22 Mar.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
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 Mar | 32.9 °C | 58 % | 26 km/h | 0.1 mm | Very low 4 |
| 15 Mar | 33.1 °C | 54 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 7 |
| 16 Mar | 32.3 °C | 56 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 6 |
| 17 Mar | 32.5 °C | 57 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 7 |
| 18 Mar after | 33.2 °C | 54 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 7 |
| 19 Mar after | 32.5 °C | 60 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 8 |
| 20 Mar after | 32.2 °C | 61 % | 25 km/h | 0.7 mm | Low 6 |
| 21 Mar after | 33.9 °C | 53 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Low 8 |
| 22 Mar after | 33.7 °C | 59 % | 28 km/h | 5.3 mm | Very low 1 |
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.
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Limbang fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 14 March 2019 and 17 March 2019: 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 679 hectares (6.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 33.1 °C, humidity dropped to 54 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 7, class Low.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Malaysia (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: 999
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 License). 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.