Ouadda fire, December 2017 Ouadda, Ouandja Kotto
The fire started on 19 December 2017 in Ouadda, Central African Republic, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 6,331 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 253th largest in Haute-Kotto since 2016 (of 372 with a page). Number 63 in Central African Republic in 2017, of 100.
The power measured by the satellite is low (28.9 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
- 6,331ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 12days
- 19 Dec 2017 – 30 Dec 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- sub-prefectures
- Started on
- 19 Dec
- 2017
- Heat detections
- 186
- in a single hotspot: 29 MW
- Danger at start
- 39
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 1.0GW
- 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 29 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
5% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 295 ha in 2016.
What happened to each town
-
Ouadda where it started5,003 ha reached on 19 Dec0.2 %
-
1,379 ha reached on 19 Dec0.2 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Dec | 34.7 °C | 14 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 20 Dec | 34.6 °C | 15 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 21 Dec | 35.2 °C | 14 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 22 Dec | 35.3 °C | 13 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 23 Dec | 36.0 °C | 13 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 24 Dec | 34.6 °C | 11 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 25 Dec | 32.7 °C | 15 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 26 Dec | 33.1 °C | 15 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 27 Dec | 33.2 °C | 15 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 28 Dec | 34.7 °C | 15 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 29 Dec | 33.7 °C | 14 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 30 Dec | 33.7 °C | 13 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 31 Dec after | 32.2 °C | 15 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 1 Jan after | 30.7 °C | 16 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 2 Jan after | 29.5 °C | 12 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 3 Jan after | 29.7 °C | 10 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 4 Jan after | 29.8 °C | 11 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 5 Jan after | 29.7 °C | 11 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 6 Jan after | 30.3 °C | 13 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 7 Jan after | 30.9 °C | 12 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 8 Jan after | 31.1 °C | 14 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 9 Jan after | 30.7 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
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 · 186Every 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 Ouadda fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 19 December 2017 to 30 December 2017 (12 days). The perimeter dates it from 19 December 2017 to 23 December 2017.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 6,331 hectares (63.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ouadda (5,003 ha, 0.2 %); Ouandja Kotto (1,379 ha, 0.2 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.0 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 50, class Very high.
- 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.
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.