Mpanda fire, 20 July 2020 Mpanda
The fire started on 20 July 2020 in Mpanda, Tanzania, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,582 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 197th largest in Katavi since 2016 (of 271 with a page). Number 131 in Tanzania in 2020, of 187.
The power measured by the satellite is low (17.9 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
- 3,582ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 3days
- 20 Jul 2020 – 22 Jul 2020
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- districts
- Started on
- 20 Jul
- 2020
- Heat detections
- 88
- in a single hotspot: 18 MW
- Danger at start
- 32
- High · FWI index
- Energy released
- 275MW
- 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
100% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,881 ha in 2016, 1,738 ha in 2017, 3,046 ha in 2018, 2,072 ha in 2019. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,590 ha that had burned before.
- 3,046 ha Mpanda fire, August 2018 11,874 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,881 ha Mpanda fire, June 2016 14,197 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,469 ha Mpanda fire, July 2017 3,776 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 988 ha Mpanda fire, June 2019 13,086 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 269 ha Mpanda fire, August 2017 3,657 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Mpanda where it started3,611 ha reached on 20 Jul0.2 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul | 27.6 °C | 34 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 21 Jul | 28.5 °C | 32 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 22 Jul | 29.1 °C | 34 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 23 Jul after | 29.2 °C | 33 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 24 Jul after | 28.8 °C | 34 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 25 Jul after | 27.8 °C | 32 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 26 Jul after | 28.2 °C | 32 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 27 Jul after | 28.2 °C | 33 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 28 Jul after | 28.1 °C | 33 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 29 Jul after | 29.1 °C | 36 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 30 Jul after | 30.1 °C | 32 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 31 Jul after | 30.4 °C | 32 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 1 Aug after | 30.1 °C | 34 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
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 · 88Every 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 Mpanda fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 20 July 2020 and 22 July 2020: 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 3,582 hectares (35.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Mpanda (3,611 ha, 0.2 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 29.1 °C, humidity dropped to 32 % and gusts hit 36 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 32, class High.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Tanzania (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 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.