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CF · Central African Republic · →

Obo fire, December 2016 Obo, Djema

Out · last detection 5 Jan 2017, 11:12 UTC

The fire started on 25 December 2016 in Obo, Central African Republic, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 8,065 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 157th largest in Haut-Mbomou since 2016 (of 298 with a page). Number 81 in Central African Republic in 2016, of 165.

Burnt area
8,065ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
12days
25 Dec 2016 – 5 Jan 2017
Municipalities hit
2
sub-prefectures
Started on
25 Dec
2016
Heat detections
264
in a single hotspot: 186 MW
Danger at start
44
Very high · FWI index
Energy released
2.0GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

5 Jan 2017
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 25 Dec5 Jan

How it evolved, day by day

2526272829303112345

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

The weather it burned in

36°high
42km/h · peak gust
14%lowest humidity

It had gone 31 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. Obo where it started
    7,642 ha reached on 25 Dec
    1.4 %
  2. Djema
    481 ha reached on 25 Dec
    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)
25 Dec 36.1 °C 19 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
26 Dec 34.9 °C 19 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
27 Dec 35.1 °C 20 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
28 Dec 34.6 °C 19 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
29 Dec 35.2 °C 17 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
30 Dec 35.9 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
31 Dec 36.3 °C 14 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
1 Jan 36.4 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
2 Jan 35.5 °C 15 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
3 Jan 35.1 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
4 Jan 35.7 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
5 Jan 34.9 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
6 Jan after 36.5 °C 12 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
7 Jan after 37.1 °C 10 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
8 Jan after 36.8 °C 10 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
9 Jan after 35.9 °C 11 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
10 Jan after 36.9 °C 10 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
11 Jan after 37.1 °C 10 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
12 Jan after 36.5 °C 12 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
13 Jan after 36.8 °C 9 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
14 Jan after 37.7 °C 9 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
15 Jan after 38.1 °C 10 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 18 Dec 2016
After · 12 Jan 2017

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 · 264Every 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 Central African Republic ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Obo fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 25 December 2016 to 5 January 2017 (12 days). The perimeter dates it from 25 December 2016 to 30 December 2016.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 8,065 hectares (80.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Obo (7,642 ha, 1.4 %); Djema (481 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.4 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 42 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 Central African Republic (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 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.