Skip to content
worldfires
MZ · Mozambique · →

Mapai fire, 7 August 2022 Mapai, Mabalane, Chigubo

Out · last measured on 9 Aug 2022

The fire started on 7 August 2022 in Mapai, Mozambique, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,598 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 28th largest in Gaza since 2016 (of 78 with a page). Number 92 in Mozambique in 2022, of 206.

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
4,598ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
3days
7 Aug 2022 – 9 Aug 2022
Municipalities hit
3
districts
Started on
7 Aug
2022
Danger at start
35
High · FWI index

Where it burned

The weather it burned in

32°high
42km/h · peak gust
23%lowest humidity

It had gone 5 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

5% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 222 ha in 2021.

What happened to each town

  1. Mapai where it started
    2,491 ha
    0.2 %
  2. Mabalane
    1,615 ha
    0.2 %
  3. Chigubo
    512 ha
    0.0 %

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)
7 Aug 31.8 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
8 Aug 31.7 °C 23 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
9 Aug 28.7 °C 39 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Aug after 29.5 °C 37 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
11 Aug after 29.2 °C 38 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
12 Aug after 30.7 °C 28 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
13 Aug after 32.8 °C 29 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
14 Aug after 35.5 °C 21 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
15 Aug after 27.7 °C 30 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
16 Aug after 26.5 °C 29 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
17 Aug after 30.4 °C 22 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Aug after 35.5 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
19 Aug after 28.8 °C 48 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 37

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 31 Jul 2022
After · 16 Aug 2022

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Other fires nearby

All fires in Mozambique ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Mapai fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 7 August 2022 and 9 August 2022: 3 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 4,598 hectares (46.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Mapai (2,491 ha, 0.2 %); Mabalane (1,615 ha, 0.2 %); Chigubo (512 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.8 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 42 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 44, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Mozambique (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
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy.

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.