Skip to content
worldfires
MZ · Mozambique · →

Nicoadala fire, 7 September 2016 Nicoadala, Namacurra

Out · last detection 23 Sept 2016, 11:55 UTC

The fire started on 7 September 2016 in Nicoadala, Mozambique, and satellites saw it burning for 16 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,575 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 621th largest in Zambézia since 2016 (of 842 with a page). Number 137 in Mozambique in 2016, of 194.

The power measured by the satellite is low (21.7 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
3,575ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
16days
7 Sept 2016 – 22 Sept 2016
Municipalities hit
2
districts
Started on
7 Sept
2016
Heat detections
182
in a single hotspot: 22 MW
Danger at start
33
High · FWI index
Energy released
1.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

23 Sept 2016
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 7 Sept22 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

7891011121314151617181920212223

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

The weather it burned in

38°high
46km/h · peak gust
17%lowest humidity

It had gone 13 days 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

  1. Nicoadala where it started
    3,550 ha reached on 4 Sept
    1.3 %
  2. Namacurra
    42 ha reached on 10 Sept
    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 Sept 33.0 °C 30 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
8 Sept 35.5 °C 26 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
9 Sept 36.5 °C 17 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
10 Sept 36.6 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
11 Sept 31.2 °C 40 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
12 Sept 31.4 °C 41 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
13 Sept 32.7 °C 30 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
14 Sept 30.3 °C 46 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
15 Sept 32.2 °C 40 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
16 Sept 35.8 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
17 Sept 37.8 °C 19 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Sept 35.9 °C 22 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
19 Sept 30.5 °C 51 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm High 29
20 Sept 30.8 °C 40 % 33 km/h 0.3 mm High 28
21 Sept 32.6 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
22 Sept 35.8 °C 24 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
23 Sept after 37.3 °C 21 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
24 Sept after 37.0 °C 21 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
25 Sept after 36.4 °C 25 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
26 Sept after 31.4 °C 41 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
27 Sept after 32.9 °C 37 % 37 km/h 0.3 mm High 35
28 Sept after 37.9 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
29 Sept after 36.6 °C 27 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
30 Sept after 34.6 °C 29 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
1 Oct after 36.0 °C 25 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
2 Oct after 38.2 °C 23 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 31 Aug 2016
After · 29 Sept 2016

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 · 182Every 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 Mozambique ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Nicoadala fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 7 September 2016 and 22 September 2016: 16 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 3,575 hectares (35.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Nicoadala (3,550 ha, 1.3 %); Namacurra (42 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.8 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 46 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 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.