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SS · South Sudan · →

Mayom fire, 9 November 2025 Rubkona, Abiemnhom, Mayom

Out · last detection 26 Dec 2025, 12:15 UTC

The fire started on 9 November 2025 in Mayom, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 47 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 17,674 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 7th largest in Unity since 2016 (of 85 with a page). Number 55 in South Sudan in 2025, of 292.

Burnt area
17,674ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
47days
9 Nov 2025 – 25 Dec 2025
Municipalities hit
3
counties
Started on
9 Nov
2025
Heat detections
664
in a single hotspot: 97 MW
Danger at start
29
High · FWI index
Energy released
6.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

26 Dec 2025
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 9 Nov25 Dec

How it evolved, day by day

910111314151617181920212223242526272829301234568910111213141516171819202122232526

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

37°high
35km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone 4 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

92% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 7,304 ha in 2016, 7,030 ha in 2017, 1,865 ha in 2018, 3,311 ha in 2019, 7,586 ha in 2020, 3,216 ha in 2021, 2,302 ha in 2022, 2,585 ha in 2023, 4,282 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 16,271 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Rubkona
    8,581 ha reached on 10 Nov
    2.4 %
  2. Abiemnhom
    7,139 ha reached on 10 Nov
    3.0 %
  3. Mayom where it started
    2,073 ha reached on 8 Nov
    0.5 %

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)
9 Nov 35.1 °C 18 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
10 Nov 35.0 °C 23 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
11 Nov 35.5 °C 25 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
12 Nov 36.3 °C 22 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
13 Nov 36.1 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
14 Nov 35.4 °C 16 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Nov 33.4 °C 16 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
16 Nov 32.8 °C 17 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
17 Nov 34.0 °C 17 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
18 Nov 35.6 °C 21 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
19 Nov 36.3 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
20 Nov 35.6 °C 19 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
21 Nov 35.7 °C 17 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
22 Nov 36.0 °C 19 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
23 Nov 35.8 °C 22 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
24 Nov 36.5 °C 21 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
25 Nov 36.3 °C 19 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Nov 36.1 °C 15 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
27 Nov 36.0 °C 15 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Nov 36.2 °C 16 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
29 Nov 36.6 °C 18 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
30 Nov 36.7 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
1 Dec 36.7 °C 19 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
2 Dec 36.8 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
3 Dec 36.1 °C 19 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
4 Dec 36.3 °C 18 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
5 Dec 36.7 °C 17 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
6 Dec 37.2 °C 16 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
7 Dec 35.7 °C 20 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
8 Dec 35.9 °C 23 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
9 Dec 36.0 °C 16 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
10 Dec 34.8 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
11 Dec 34.5 °C 16 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
12 Dec 35.0 °C 16 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
13 Dec 34.8 °C 13 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
14 Dec 34.8 °C 19 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
15 Dec 34.1 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
16 Dec 32.5 °C 14 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
17 Dec 32.9 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
18 Dec 32.7 °C 13 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
19 Dec 34.3 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
20 Dec 34.0 °C 17 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
21 Dec 34.3 °C 14 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
22 Dec 34.4 °C 14 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
23 Dec 35.5 °C 16 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
24 Dec 36.0 °C 17 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
25 Dec 36.9 °C 16 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
26 Dec after 36.3 °C 18 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
27 Dec after 36.3 °C 17 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
28 Dec after 35.2 °C 11 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
29 Dec after 35.5 °C 9 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Dec after 34.5 °C 9 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
31 Dec after 33.5 °C 10 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
1 Jan after 35.3 °C 10 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
2 Jan after 36.3 °C 14 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
3 Jan after 35.9 °C 11 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
4 Jan after 36.3 °C 14 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 2 Nov 2025
After · 1 Jan 2026

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 · Copernicus

On 10 December 2025 the air beside the fire reached 137 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 83: 5.5 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak137 µg/m³
Days over the guideline49 days
PM10239 µg/m³
Optical depth0.68
78910111213141516171819202122232425262728293012345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
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 · 664Every 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 timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in South Sudan ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Mayom fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 9 November 2025 and 25 December 2025: 47 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 17,674 hectares (176.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Rubkona (8,581 ha, 2.4 %); Abiemnhom (7,139 ha, 3.0 %); Mayom (2,073 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.2 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 51, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of South Sudan (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.

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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.