Polokwane fire, June 2021 Polokwane, Lepele-Nkumpi
The fire started on 30 June 2021 in Polokwane, South Africa, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,140 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 102th largest in Limpopo since 2016 (of 210 with a page). Number 56 in South Africa in 2021, of 156.
The power measured by the satellite is low (28.7 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
- 3,140ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 5days
- 30 Jun 2021 – 4 Jul 2021
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- municipalities
- Started on
- 30 Jun
- 2021
- Heat detections
- 94
- in a single hotspot: 29 MW
- Danger at start
- 40
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 476MW
- 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 28 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
20% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 459 ha in 2017, 177 ha in 2019.
What happened to each town
-
Polokwane where it started1,663 ha reached on 29 Jun0.3 %
-
1,492 ha reached on 30 Jun0.4 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun | 24.3 °C | 11 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 1 Jul | 22.4 °C | 13 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 2 Jul | 20.9 °C | 16 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 3 Jul | 22.4 °C | 16 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 4 Jul | 22.2 °C | 11 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 5 Jul after | 15.6 °C | 46 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 6 Jul after | 14.2 °C | 46 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 7 Jul after | 16.0 °C | 31 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 8 Jul after | 17.2 °C | 27 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 9 Jul after | 18.5 °C | 21 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 10 Jul after | 17.8 °C | 23 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 27 |
| 11 Jul after | 19.8 °C | 21 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 12 Jul after | 20.0 °C | 15 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 13 Jul after | 16.5 °C | 17 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 14 Jul after | 13.2 °C | 30 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
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 · 94Every 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 Polokwane fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 30 June 2021 and 4 July 2021: 5 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 3,140 hectares (31.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Polokwane (1,663 ha, 0.3 %); Lepele-Nkumpi (1,492 ha, 0.4 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 24.3 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 49, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of South Africa (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: 10177 · 112
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.