Tulus fire, November 2021 Tulus, Buram
The fire started on 11 November 2021 in Tulus, Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 6 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,831 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 152th largest in South Darfur since 2016 (of 322 with a page). Number 73 in Sudan in 2021, of 149.
The power measured by the satellite is low (15.5 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
- 2,831ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 6days
- 11 Nov 2021 – 16 Nov 2021
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- localities
- Started on
- 11 Nov
- 2021
- Heat detections
- 60
- in a single hotspot: 15 MW
- Danger at start
- 50
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 424MW
- 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
18% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 505 ha in 2019.
What happened to each town
-
Tulus where it started2,791 ha reached on 11 Nov1.3 %
-
55 ha reached on 13 Nov0.0 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Nov | 37.9 °C | 10 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 12 Nov | 37.4 °C | 15 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 13 Nov | 37.5 °C | 12 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 14 Nov | 37.2 °C | 10 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 15 Nov | 37.1 °C | 12 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 16 Nov | 36.0 °C | 12 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 17 Nov after | 37.0 °C | 12 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 18 Nov after | 37.3 °C | 14 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 19 Nov after | 37.4 °C | 14 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 64 |
| 20 Nov after | 35.5 °C | 10 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 67 |
| 21 Nov after | 34.4 °C | 10 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 67 |
| 22 Nov after | 33.9 °C | 11 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 23 Nov after | 33.9 °C | 10 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 65 |
| 24 Nov after | 34.4 °C | 8 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 64 |
| 25 Nov after | 34.5 °C | 10 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 65 |
| 26 Nov after | 34.7 °C | 8 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
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 · 60Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 3,152 haBuram11 November 2021 · 5 days · 13 km away
- 2,968 haBuram15 November 2021 · 5 days · 21 km away
- 3,219 haDamsoDecember 2021 · 5 days · 25 km away
- 5,951 haBuram17 November 2023 · 7 days · 32 km away
- 5,198 haBuram23 November 2025 · 17 days · 33 km away
- 3,225 haAl Radoum11 December 2025 · 3 days · 36 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Tulus fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 11 November 2021 and 16 November 2021: 6 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 2,831 hectares (28.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Tulus (2,791 ha, 1.3 %); Buram (55 ha, 0.0 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 37.9 °C, humidity dropped to 10 % and gusts hit 40 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 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
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 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.