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Nyirol fire, 14 December 2023 Nyirol, Akobo

Out · last detection 26 Jan 2024, 23:30 UTC

The fire started on 14 December 2023 in Nyirol, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 43 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 34,593 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 7th largest in Jonglei since 2016 (of 428 with a page). The largest in South Sudan in 2023, of 106.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Nyirol · 2021Nyirol · 2020Nyirol · 2023Baliet · 2022

Burnt area
34,593ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
43days
14 Dec 2023 – 25 Jan 2024
Municipalities hit
2
counties
Started on
14 Dec
2023
Heat detections
2,084
in a single hotspot: 228 MW
Danger at start
65
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
593MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 14 Dec25 Jan
26 Jan 2024

How it evolved, day by day

14 Dec 2023 · 48 MW · 5 15 Dec 2023 · 77 MW · 6 16 Dec 2023 · 102 MW · 13 17 Dec 2023 · 47 MW · 4 18 Dec 2023 · 53 MW · 10 19 Dec 2023 · 46 MW · 7 20 Dec 2023 · 62 MW · 8 21 Dec 2023 · 37 MW · 4 22 Dec 2023 · 564 MW · 46 23 Dec 2023 · 1,317 MW · 79 24 Dec 2023 · 1,139 MW · 120 25 Dec 2023 · 498 MW · 64 26 Dec 2023 · 40 MW · 10 28 Dec 2023 · 166 MW · 15 29 Dec 2023 · 670 MW · 56 30 Dec 2023 · 307 MW · 73 31 Dec 2023 · 1,091 MW · 105 1 Jan 2024 · 2,549 MW · 150 2 Jan 2024 · 231 MW · 50 3 Jan 2024 · 937 MW · 84 4 Jan 2024 · 213 MW · 29 5 Jan 2024 · 144 MW · 22 6 Jan 2024 · 705 MW · 64 7 Jan 2024 · 832 MW · 77 8 Jan 2024 · 578 MW · 60 9 Jan 2024 · 128 MW · 9 10 Jan 2024 · 21 MW · 4 11 Jan 2024 · 481 MW · 85 12 Jan 2024 · 2,274 MW · 124 13 Jan 2024 · 927 MW · 60 14 Jan 2024 · 3,079 MW · 110 15 Jan 2024 · 1,451 MW · 132 16 Jan 2024 · 442 MW · 50 17 Jan 2024 · 603 MW · 52 18 Jan 2024 · 136 MW · 40 19 Jan 2024 · 480 MW · 42 20 Jan 2024 · 437 MW · 67 21 Jan 2024 · 1,000 MW · 66 22 Jan 2024 · 473 MW · 51 24 Jan 2024 · 450 MW · 25 25 Jan 2024 · 50 MW · 5 26 Jan 2024 · 1 MW · 1
14 Dec 20 Dec 26 Dec 2 Jan 8 Jan 14 Jan 20 Jan

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

The weather it burned in

40°high
50km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity

It had gone 25 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

83% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,490 ha in 2016, 5,935 ha in 2017, 5,822 ha in 2018, 4,276 ha in 2019, 6,428 ha in 2020, 12,177 ha in 2021, 8,001 ha in 2022, 2,384 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 28,761 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 22% of the area of London (346 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Nyirol where it started
    34,806 ha reached on 14 Dec
    4.9 %
  2. Akobo
    7 ha reached on 22 Dec
    0.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2025, satellite-based estimate).

This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)
14 Dec 36.8 °C 9 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
15 Dec 37.5 °C 11 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
16 Dec 37.6 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
17 Dec 39.1 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
18 Dec 38.3 °C 14 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
19 Dec 37.8 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
20 Dec 39.0 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
21 Dec 39.5 °C 13 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
22 Dec 40.3 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
23 Dec 39.2 °C 11 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
24 Dec 37.9 °C 11 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
25 Dec 38.3 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
26 Dec 37.8 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
27 Dec 37.6 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
28 Dec 36.6 °C 15 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
29 Dec 37.1 °C 12 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
30 Dec 37.4 °C 13 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
31 Dec 37.3 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
1 Jan 37.3 °C 12 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
2 Jan 38.2 °C 13 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
3 Jan 37.8 °C 10 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
4 Jan 37.8 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
5 Jan 36.4 °C 11 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
6 Jan 36.9 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
7 Jan 36.8 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
8 Jan 37.8 °C 10 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
9 Jan 38.7 °C 12 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
10 Jan 39.0 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
11 Jan 39.0 °C 13 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
12 Jan 37.6 °C 13 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
13 Jan 37.8 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
14 Jan 38.6 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
15 Jan 37.6 °C 11 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
16 Jan 36.8 °C 12 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
17 Jan 37.0 °C 17 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
18 Jan 35.9 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
19 Jan 36.9 °C 8 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
20 Jan 37.1 °C 9 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
21 Jan 37.4 °C 10 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
22 Jan 38.5 °C 10 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
23 Jan 39.3 °C 12 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
24 Jan 39.1 °C 13 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
25 Jan 38.6 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
26 Jan after 36.1 °C 12 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
27 Jan after 34.6 °C 9 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
28 Jan after 36.4 °C 11 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
29 Jan after 36.0 °C 12 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
30 Jan after 37.5 °C 10 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
31 Jan after 36.2 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
1 Feb after 36.4 °C 11 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
2 Feb after 36.1 °C 9 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
3 Feb after 36.5 °C 11 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
4 Feb after 37.3 °C 10 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 7 Dec 2023
After · 1 Feb 2024

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 16 December 2023 the air beside the fire reached 88 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 56: 3.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak88 µg/m³
Days over the guideline39 days
PM10126 µg/m³
Optical depth1.47
14151617181920212223242526272829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425
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 · 2,084Every 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 Nyirol fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 14 December 2023 to 25 January 2024 (43 days). The perimeter dates it from 16 December 2023 to 22 January 2024.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 34,593 hectares (345.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Nyirol (34,806 ha, 4.9 %); Akobo (7 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 40.3 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 74, class Very 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

History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 22 January 2024 → 25 January 2024.
  2. Start date: 16 December 2023 → 14 December 2023.

RSS Changes to this page

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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How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 16 December 2023 to 22 January 2024. 2,084 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
  • Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

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.