Shiroro fire, 21 December 2025 Rafi, Shiroro
The fire started on 21 December 2025 in Shiroro, Nigeria, and satellites saw it burning for 46 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 55,406 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.
Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:
- 16,719 haRafi11 January 2026 · 29 days
- 10,748 haMariga10 January 2026 · 27 days
- 10,375 haMariga11 January 2026 · 22 days
- 8,587 haBirnin Gwari3 December 2025 · 29 days
- 8,017 haShiroro22 December 2025 · 27 days
- 7,954 haShiroro12 December 2025 · 12 days
- 7,181 haShiroro1 January 2026 · 11 days
- 5,783 haShiroro8 December 2025 · 17 days
It is the 3th largest in Niger since 2016 (of 271 with a page). Number 2 in Nigeria in 2025, of 294.
Compare with…
Suggestions: Rafi · 2021Rafi · 2022Rafi · 2021Rafi · 2020
- Burnt area
- 55,406ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 46days
- 21 Dec 2025 – 4 Feb 2026
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- local government areas
- Started on
- 21 Dec
- 2025
- Heat detections
- 2,195
- in a single hotspot: 176 MW
- Danger at start
- 42
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 368MW
- detected power per day, on average
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 more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
88% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,407 ha in 2016, 1,066 ha in 2017, 5,633 ha in 2018, 3,365 ha in 2019, 16,028 ha in 2020, 30,151 ha in 2021, 18,838 ha in 2022, 10,812 ha in 2023, 17,349 ha in 2024, 24,173 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 48,967 ha that had burned before.
- 5,900 ha Rafi fire, January 2021 12,255 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 3,338 ha Rafi fire, January 2022 3,707 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,730 ha Rafi fire, January 2021 4,150 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,364 ha Rafi fire, January 2020 2,624 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,125 ha Shiroro fire, January 2022 2,886 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,045 ha Rafi fire, December 2022 2,699 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,019 ha Rafi fire, January 2020 2,180 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,001 ha Rafi fire, January 2024 2,378 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
33,109 ha reached on 25 Dec8.6 %
-
Shiroro where it started22,641 ha reached on 21 Dec4.8 %
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 2025Inside the perimeter there were about 61 hectares of built-up land and about 11,000 residents (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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Dec | 35.9 °C | 19 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 22 Dec | 35.3 °C | 22 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 23 Dec | 36.0 °C | 24 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 24 Dec | 35.5 °C | 33 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 25 Dec | 37.0 °C | 27 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 26 Dec | 37.4 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 27 Dec | 36.9 °C | 23 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 28 Dec | 37.4 °C | 22 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 29 Dec | 37.5 °C | 24 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 30 Dec | 35.1 °C | 37 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 31 Dec | 37.5 °C | 23 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 1 Jan | 38.3 °C | 21 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 2 Jan | 38.0 °C | 23 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 3 Jan | 36.5 °C | 22 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 4 Jan | 37.3 °C | 17 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 5 Jan | 36.7 °C | 16 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 6 Jan | 37.5 °C | 20 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 7 Jan | 35.4 °C | 24 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 8 Jan | 35.2 °C | 27 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 9 Jan | 36.0 °C | 15 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 10 Jan | 34.1 °C | 14 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 11 Jan | 34.4 °C | 22 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 12 Jan | 33.9 °C | 20 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 13 Jan | 35.5 °C | 19 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 14 Jan | 34.0 °C | 21 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 15 Jan | 34.8 °C | 23 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 16 Jan | 36.2 °C | 23 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 17 Jan | 35.6 °C | 21 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 18 Jan | 35.0 °C | 28 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 19 Jan | 35.1 °C | 31 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 20 Jan | 36.0 °C | 15 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 21 Jan | 35.6 °C | 15 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 22 Jan | 33.6 °C | 18 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 23 Jan | 36.0 °C | 13 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 24 Jan | 35.6 °C | 22 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 25 Jan | 37.0 °C | 19 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 26 Jan | 36.2 °C | 11 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 27 Jan | 34.1 °C | 18 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 28 Jan | 35.0 °C | 19 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 29 Jan | 36.3 °C | 16 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 30 Jan | 36.2 °C | 16 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 31 Jan | 36.4 °C | 23 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 1 Feb | 36.2 °C | 25 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 2 Feb | 38.0 °C | 18 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 3 Feb | 35.8 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 4 Feb | 38.2 °C | 19 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 5 Feb after | 39.2 °C | 16 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 6 Feb after | 36.2 °C | 33 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 7 Feb after | 36.7 °C | 22 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 8 Feb after | 38.0 °C | 19 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 9 Feb after | 36.1 °C | 24 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 10 Feb after | 35.2 °C | 30 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 11 Feb after | 36.2 °C | 31 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 12 Feb after | 37.2 °C | 28 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 13 Feb after | 35.5 °C | 19 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 14 Feb after | 37.0 °C | 8 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
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.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 10 January 2026 the air beside the fire reached 189 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 125: 8.3 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
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 · 2,195Every 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 Shiroro fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 21 December 2025 to 4 February 2026 (46 days). The perimeter dates it from 27 December 2025 to 29 January 2026.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 55,406 hectares (554.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Rafi (33,109 ha, 8.6 %); Shiroro (22,641 ha, 4.8 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 38.3 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 57, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Nigeria (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: 112 · Emergency number and official warnings ›
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.
- Last day with fire: 29 January 2026 → 4 February 2026.
- Start date: 27 December 2025 → 21 December 2025.
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 6 polygons grouped in this page.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 27 December 2025 to 29 January 2026. 2,195 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.
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 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.