Ulang fire, January 2019 Ulang, Akobo
The fire started on 2 January 2019 in Ulang, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 26 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 58,283 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 5th largest in Upper Nile since 2016 (of 284 with a page). Number 8 in South Sudan in 2019, of 150.
- Burnt area
- 58,283ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 26days
- 2 Jan 2019 – 27 Jan 2019
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- counties
- Started on
- 2 Jan
- 2019
- Heat detections
- 2,068
- in a single hotspot: 427 MW
- Danger at start
- 44
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 27.3GW
- 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 more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
82% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 8,342 ha in 2016, 44,435 ha in 2017, 14,990 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 47,724 ha that had burned before.
- 38,411 ha Ulang fire, December 2016 129,779 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 6,104 ha Ulang fire, December 2017 35,904 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 5,336 ha Ulang fire, March 2018 8,139 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 802 ha Luakpiny/Nasir fire, February 2017 7,219 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 369 ha Ulang fire, December 2018 8,768 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 11 ha Ulang fire, January 2016 9,948 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
What happened to each town
-
Ulang where it started54,589 ha reached on 27 Dec11 %
-
1,670 ha reached on 8 Jan0.2 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 Jan | 37.8 °C | 20 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 3 Jan | 37.3 °C | 17 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 4 Jan | 37.9 °C | 21 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 5 Jan | 37.1 °C | 24 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 6 Jan | 37.4 °C | 18 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 7 Jan | 38.2 °C | 16 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 59 |
| 8 Jan | 38.0 °C | 18 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 9 Jan | 37.8 °C | 18 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 10 Jan | 38.4 °C | 17 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 11 Jan | 38.1 °C | 18 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 12 Jan | 38.4 °C | 15 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 13 Jan | 38.5 °C | 15 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 14 Jan | 38.5 °C | 14 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 15 Jan | 40.2 °C | 12 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 16 Jan | 40.6 °C | 11 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 17 Jan | 39.1 °C | 16 % | 48 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 70 |
| 18 Jan | 39.4 °C | 16 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 64 |
| 19 Jan | 38.6 °C | 16 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 63 |
| 20 Jan | 39.2 °C | 12 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
| 21 Jan | 40.0 °C | 9 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 22 Jan | 40.2 °C | 12 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 66 |
| 23 Jan | 40.2 °C | 13 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
| 24 Jan | 40.4 °C | 12 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 25 Jan | 40.1 °C | 17 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 26 Jan | 40.3 °C | 17 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 61 |
| 27 Jan | 39.8 °C | 20 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 65 |
| 28 Jan after | 40.2 °C | 18 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 64 |
| 29 Jan after | 39.5 °C | 15 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 30 Jan after | 38.5 °C | 18 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 31 Jan after | 39.8 °C | 15 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 1 Feb after | 39.8 °C | 17 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 59 |
| 2 Feb after | 39.8 °C | 17 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 3 Feb after | 40.4 °C | 14 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 4 Feb after | 39.4 °C | 14 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 5 Feb after | 41.4 °C | 13 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 6 Feb after | 40.0 °C | 15 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 65 |
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 · 2,068Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 129,779 haUlangDecember 2016 · 40 days · 7 km away
- 35,904 haUlangDecember 2017 · 17 days · 10 km away
- 83,713 haUlang6 March 2022 · 30 days · 12 km away
- 63,860 haAkobo24 January 2022 · 30 days · 23 km away
- 32,732 haUlang16 February 2025 · 32 days · 29 km away
- 77,472 haNyirol4 January 2024 · 28 days · 40 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Ulang fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 2 January 2019 and 27 January 2019: 26 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 58,283 hectares (582.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ulang (54,589 ha, 11 %); Akobo (1,670 ha, 0.2 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 40.6 °C, humidity dropped to 9 % and gusts hit 48 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 70, 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
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.