Mampatim fire, January 2016 Mampatim
The fire started on 28 January 2016 in Mampatim, Senegal, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,710 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 91th largest in Kolda since 2016 (of 195 with a page). Number 26 in Senegal in 2016, of 58.
The power measured by the satellite is low (15.4 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
- 2,710ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 5days
- 28 Jan 2016 – 1 Feb 2016
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- districts
- Started on
- 28 Jan
- 2016
- Heat detections
- 71
- in a single hotspot: 15 MW
- Danger at start
- 54
- Extreme · FWI index
- Energy released
- 375MW
- 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
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
Mampatim where it started2,728 ha reached on 27 Jan1.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan | 34.3 °C | 25 % | 49 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 29 Jan | 35.1 °C | 22 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 30 Jan | 35.4 °C | 19 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 31 Jan | 35.7 °C | 18 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 1 Feb | 34.0 °C | 14 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 2 Feb after | 32.9 °C | 16 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 3 Feb after | 33.9 °C | 16 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 4 Feb after | 35.5 °C | 14 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 5 Feb after | 37.7 °C | 12 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 6 Feb after | 37.2 °C | 15 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 7 Feb after | 37.6 °C | 12 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 8 Feb after | 37.6 °C | 13 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
| 9 Feb after | 36.3 °C | 15 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 63 |
| 10 Feb after | 35.0 °C | 18 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 11 Feb after | 36.9 °C | 16 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
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 · 71Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 8,867 haFafacourou24 February 2021 · 9 days · 20 km away
- 6,251 haFafacourou2 March 2019 · 8 days · 32 km away
- 5,884 haFafacourouFebruary 2025 · 8 days · 34 km away
- 7,782 haNdornaFebruary 2020 · 7 days · 36 km away
- 6,663 haFafacourou5 February 2020 · 8 days · 39 km away
- 8,892 haFafacourou22 February 2021 · 12 days · 40 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Mampatim fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 28 January 2016 and 1 February 2016: 5 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 2,710 hectares (27.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Mampatim (2,728 ha, 1.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 35.7 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 54, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Senegal (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: 18
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 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.