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Tambura fire, 6 December 2016 Tambura, Wau, Raga

Out · last detection 22 Jan 2017, 23:31 UTC

The fire started on 6 December 2016 in Tambura, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 48 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 422,275 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 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:

It is the largest fire in Western Equatoria since 2016 (of 359 with a page). Number 2 in South Sudan in 2016, of 244.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Tambura · 2026Tambura · 2018Tambura · 2024Tambura · 2022

Burnt area
422,275ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
48days
6 Dec 2016 – 22 Jan 2017
Municipalities hit
3
counties
Started on
6 Dec
2016
Heat detections
18,160
in a single hotspot: 367 MW
Danger at start
32
High · FWI index
Average daily power
3.6GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 6 Dec22 Jan
22 Jan 2017

How it evolved, day by day

6 Dec 2016 · 109 MW · 10 7 Dec 2016 · 406 MW · 24 8 Dec 2016 · 2,152 MW · 136 9 Dec 2016 · 3,587 MW · 203 10 Dec 2016 · 5,350 MW · 276 11 Dec 2016 · 1,769 MW · 93 12 Dec 2016 · 460 MW · 63 13 Dec 2016 · 1,311 MW · 97 14 Dec 2016 · 1,902 MW · 138 15 Dec 2016 · 2,913 MW · 271 16 Dec 2016 · 2,123 MW · 217 17 Dec 2016 · 5,138 MW · 533 18 Dec 2016 · 9,549 MW · 575 19 Dec 2016 · 10,467 MW · 983 20 Dec 2016 · 7,801 MW · 1227 21 Dec 2016 · 6,220 MW · 794 22 Dec 2016 · 4,210 MW · 488 23 Dec 2016 · 11,425 MW · 951 24 Dec 2016 · 10,173 MW · 818 25 Dec 2016 · 10,574 MW · 1348 26 Dec 2016 · 7,612 MW · 1283 27 Dec 2016 · 14,821 MW · 950 28 Dec 2016 · 4,180 MW · 614 29 Dec 2016 · 5,633 MW · 487 30 Dec 2016 · 6,391 MW · 893 31 Dec 2016 · 8,952 MW · 1203 1 Jan 2017 · 7,616 MW · 849 2 Jan 2017 · 1,124 MW · 299 3 Jan 2017 · 1,167 MW · 149 4 Jan 2017 · 1,222 MW · 145 5 Jan 2017 · 1,213 MW · 277 6 Jan 2017 · 3,832 MW · 282 7 Jan 2017 · 930 MW · 150 8 Jan 2017 · 1,174 MW · 107 9 Jan 2017 · 1,612 MW · 153 10 Jan 2017 · 1,494 MW · 239 11 Jan 2017 · 1,079 MW · 191 12 Jan 2017 · 1,129 MW · 138 13 Jan 2017 · 951 MW · 103 14 Jan 2017 · 753 MW · 31 15 Jan 2017 · 486 MW · 37 16 Jan 2017 · 66 MW · 21 17 Jan 2017 · 1,230 MW · 85 18 Jan 2017 · 768 MW · 127 19 Jan 2017 · 170 MW · 19 20 Jan 2017 · 196 MW · 22 21 Jan 2017 · 110 MW · 30 22 Jan 2017 · 220 MW · 31
6 Dec 13 Dec 20 Dec 27 Dec 3 Jan 10 Jan 17 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
47km/h · peak gust
8%lowest humidity

It had gone 12 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.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 2.7 times the area of London (4,223 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. Tambura where it started
    315,866 ha reached on 6 Dec
    25 %
  2. Wau
    25,971 ha reached on 9 Dec
    1.3 %
  3. Raga
    25,951 ha reached on 16 Dec
    0.4 %

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 2015
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2015, 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.

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)
6 Dec 35.8 °C 19 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
7 Dec 34.8 °C 18 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
8 Dec 35.9 °C 14 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
9 Dec 35.6 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
10 Dec 36.3 °C 16 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
11 Dec 35.6 °C 16 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
12 Dec 35.9 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
13 Dec 36.3 °C 18 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
14 Dec 35.2 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
15 Dec 33.9 °C 13 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
16 Dec 34.6 °C 13 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
17 Dec 35.3 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Dec 35.1 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
19 Dec 35.2 °C 16 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
20 Dec 35.6 °C 15 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
21 Dec 36.3 °C 17 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
22 Dec 36.3 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
23 Dec 36.7 °C 18 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
24 Dec 36.6 °C 19 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
25 Dec 37.0 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
26 Dec 35.6 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
27 Dec 35.5 °C 18 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
28 Dec 35.3 °C 17 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
29 Dec 36.1 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
30 Dec 36.7 °C 14 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
31 Dec 37.0 °C 12 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
1 Jan 37.2 °C 13 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
2 Jan 36.4 °C 15 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
3 Jan 35.8 °C 15 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
4 Jan 36.4 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
5 Jan 35.6 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
6 Jan 37.3 °C 11 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
7 Jan 37.8 °C 10 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
8 Jan 37.6 °C 9 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
9 Jan 36.7 °C 9 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
10 Jan 37.6 °C 9 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
11 Jan 37.9 °C 9 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
12 Jan 37.5 °C 11 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
13 Jan 37.7 °C 8 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
14 Jan 38.2 °C 8 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
15 Jan 38.7 °C 9 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
16 Jan 39.0 °C 9 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
17 Jan 39.0 °C 9 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
18 Jan 39.0 °C 9 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
19 Jan 39.2 °C 9 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
20 Jan 39.4 °C 10 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
21 Jan 39.5 °C 9 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
22 Jan 39.2 °C 11 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
23 Jan after 39.5 °C 11 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
24 Jan after 37.6 °C 12 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
25 Jan after 36.9 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
26 Jan after 37.0 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
27 Jan after 37.1 °C 13 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
28 Jan after 38.1 °C 12 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
29 Jan after 36.6 °C 10 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
30 Jan after 37.5 °C 8 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
31 Jan after 37.8 °C 8 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
1 Feb after 36.8 °C 7 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 29 Nov 2016
After · 29 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 · 18,160Every 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 Tambura fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 6 December 2016 to 22 January 2017 (48 days). The perimeter dates it from 13 December 2016 to 15 January 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 422,275 hectares (4,222.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Tambura (315,866 ha, 25 %); Wau (25,971 ha, 1.3 %); Raga (25,951 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.5 °C, humidity dropped to 8 % and gusts hit 47 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 65, class 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: 15 January 2017 → 22 January 2017.
  2. Start date: 13 December 2016 → 6 December 2016.

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; 4 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 13 December 2016 to 15 January 2017. 18,160 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 2015, 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.