Nianing fire, April 2018 Ndorna, Fafacourou, Nianing
The fire started on 17 April 2018 in Nianing, Senegal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,339 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 26th largest in Kolda since 2016 (of 195 with a page). Number 4 in Senegal in 2018, of 30.
- Burnt area
- 4,339ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 3days
- 17 Apr 2018 – 19 Apr 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- districts
- Started on
- 17 Apr
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 153
- in a single hotspot: 53 MW
- Danger at start
- 63
- Extreme · FWI index
- Energy released
- 951MW
- 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
46% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,147 ha in 2016, 960 ha in 2017. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,005 ha that had burned before.
What happened to each town
-
2,272 ha reached on 17 Apr1.0 %
-
1,988 ha reached on 14 Apr2.2 %
-
Nianing where it started104 ha reached on 13 Apr0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Apr | 41.6 °C | 14 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 63 |
| 18 Apr | 40.7 °C | 15 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 19 Apr | 38.5 °C | 13 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 63 |
| 20 Apr after | 37.8 °C | 17 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 21 Apr after | 39.2 °C | 21 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 22 Apr after | 39.1 °C | 19 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 23 Apr after | 40.7 °C | 19 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 55 |
| 24 Apr after | 41.1 °C | 15 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 25 Apr after | 43.2 °C | 10 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 26 Apr after | 42.2 °C | 10 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 27 Apr after | 41.8 °C | 16 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 67 |
| 28 Apr after | 42.5 °C | 12 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
| 29 Apr after | 42.4 °C | 10 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
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 · 153Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 8,892 haFafacourou22 February 2021 · 12 days · 1 km away
- 6,663 haFafacourou5 February 2020 · 8 days · 2 km away
- 6,081 haNdornaFebruary 2019 · 4 days · 7 km away
- 6,251 haFafacourou2 March 2019 · 8 days · 8 km away
- 7,782 haNdornaFebruary 2020 · 7 days · 12 km away
- 21,167 haNdorna14 January 2026 · 15 days · 19 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Nianing fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 17 April 2018 and 19 April 2018: 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 4,339 hectares (43.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Ndorna (2,272 ha, 1.0 %); Fafacourou (1,988 ha, 2.2 %); Nianing (104 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 41.6 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 35 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 66, 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.