How long did the Ulanga fire last?

According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 14 September 2021 to 25 November 2021 (73 days). The perimeter dates it from 14 September 2021 to 24 November 2021.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 83,170 hectares (831.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ulanga (52,754 ha, 2.2 %); Namtumbo (31,619 ha, 1.4 %).

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 37.2 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 38 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 41, class Very high.

Where does this data come from?

From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Tanzania (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

TZ · Tanzania · 14 Sept 2021 – 25 Nov 2021

Ulanga fire, 14 September 2021 Ulanga, Namtumbo

Out · last detection 26 Nov 2021, 11:21 UTC

The fire started on 14 September 2021 in Ulanga, Tanzania, and satellites saw it burning for 73 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 83,170 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:

It is the largest fire in Morogoro since 2016 (of 102 with a page). Number 2 in Tanzania in 2021, of 135.

Use this data

Compare with…

Suggestions: Njombe · 2017 Ulanga · 2016 Ulanga · 2018 Ulanga · 2016

Use this data

Fire page data · version 2026-10-27

matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel

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Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.

Burned area

satellite only

83,170ha

Union of 8 GWIS (Copernicus) perimeters: overlapping areas count once.

Source: GWIS (Copernicus)
Date: 14 Sept 2021 – 25 Nov 2021

+ cross-check

No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.

in my selection

Duration by satellite

satellite only

73days

14 Sept 2021 to 25 Nov 2021: first and last day with fire on the page.

Source: GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date: last detection: 26 Nov 2021, 11:21 UTC

+ cross-check

Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.

in my selection

Start

satellite only

14 Sept 2021

First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.

Source: GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date: 14 Sept 2021

+ cross-check

No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.

in my selection

Hotspots

satellite only

3,878

VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 176 MW.

Source: NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date: 14 Sept 2021 – 25 Nov 2021

+ cross-check

There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.

in my selection

The worst day

satellite only

2,747MW

Total radiative power on 7 November 2021; hotspots that day: 249.

Source: NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date: 7 Nov 2021

+ cross-check

Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.

in my selection

Danger at the start

model

28.5FWI · high

Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 3.

Source: WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
Date: 14 Sept 2021, local noon
Model: ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com

+ cross-check

This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings

in my selection

Weather during the fire

model

37.2°C · 25% RH

High of 37.2 °C and minimum humidity of 25% on 24 November 2021; gusts of 38 km/h on 26 October 2021.

Source: weather model at the fire’s grid cell
Date: 14 Sept 2021 – 25 Nov 2021
Model: ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com

+ cross-check

These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.

in my selection

Living inside

model

≈ 250people

Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 0.48 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2020).

Source: GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date: calculated on 24 October 2026

+ cross-check

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.

in my selection

Versioned permanent link

https://worldfires.org/en/fire/ulanga-2021-09-3?v=2026-10-27

A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.

Citation

A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives

In another language

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CSV for this fire ulanga-2021-09-3.csv · daily, no individual hotspots

fecha	focos_viirs	frp_mw	tmax_c	tmin_c	hr_min_pct	viento_max_kmh	racha_max_kmh	precip_mm	fwi	clase_fwi	dentro_del_incendio
2021-09-14	5	13	30.2	18.6	35	11.3	29.9	0	28.5	alto	1
2021-09-15	16	43	29.2	18.1	42	14	32.4	0	29.1	alto	1
2021-09-16	31	52	28	18.1	49	13.5	31.3	0	25.5	alto	1
2021-09-17	40	91	30.3	18.2	41	10.4	27	0	23.7	alto	1
2021-09-18	75	716	32.1	16.6	35	13.5	33.8	0	28.8	alto	1
2021-09-19	9	47	30	18.4	41	12.3	26.6	0.1	28.2	alto	1
2021-09-20	26	114	28.4	19.4	50	10.4	27	0.4	23.7	alto	1
2021-09-21	4	47	28.5	19.2	44	11.7	28.8	0	24.7	alto	1
2021-09-22	13	57	30.3	18.7	37	10	30.6	0.4	25.1	alto	1
2021-09-23	1	1	30.9	18.6	37	11.3	29.2	0.6	25.5	alto	1
2021-09-24	0	0	28.9	19.7	40	9.8	31	0.6	22.6	alto	1
2021-09-25	11	21	31.5	17.9	34	11.3	35.6	0.3	27.8	alto	1
2021-09-26	28	64	30.9	17.9	31	11.6	32.8	0	29.8	alto	1
2021-09-27	29	53	31.5	18.6	31	9.7	28.8	0	29	alto	1
2021-09-28	46	274	32.5	18.3	30	13.4	32.8	0	32.9	alto	1
2021-09-29	9	44	29.9	19.1	42	14.2	32.8	0	31	alto	1
2021-09-30	4	5	32.1	21.2	34	14	31	0	31.1	alto	1
2021-10-01	12	26	30	19.4	43	11.5	29.2	0	28.4	alto	1
2021-10-02	15	27	31.7	18.1	35	13	33.5	0	29.7	alto	1
2021-10-03	9	36	32	17.8	39	13	34.2	0	29.9	alto	1
2021-10-04	24	152	32	17.6	36	11.8	31.3	0	29.2	alto	1
2021-10-05	34	81	33	18.9	28	11	31	0	32.4	alto	1
2021-10-06	33	88	31.5	18.9	34	10.9	29.5	0	32.6	alto	1
2021-10-07	32	237	32.8	19.1	34	9.5	29.2	0.1	31.7	alto	1
2021-10-08	40	114	30.2	19.5	46	9	26.6	0.5	26.4	alto	1
2021-10-09	31	174	28.5	18.5	49	13.2	31.7	0	26.8	alto	1
2021-10-10	71	247	29.8	18.2	40	13.4	33.1	0	27.1	alto	1
2021-10-11	45	306	31.8	17.9	35	12.4	35.3	0.2	29.3	alto	1
2021-10-12	3	8	29.9	18.2	45	8.9	30.6	0.3	26.1	alto	1
2021-10-13	82	149	31.2	20	38	10.1	28.8	0.5	27	alto	1
2021-10-14	34	126	32.7	19	35	13.2	29.5	0	30.7	alto	1
2021-10-15	50	89	32.1	20.3	39	13.7	31	0.1	31.2	alto	1
2021-10-16	159	810	32.5	18.9	34	15.1	33.8	0	32.8	alto	1
2021-10-17	62	125	29.4	19.2	44	13.7	34.6	0	29.9	alto	1
2021-10-18	102	210	29.3	18.6	46	13.5	33.1	0	28.7	alto	1
2021-10-19	48	83	30.2	18.7	43	11	31	0.5	27.1	alto	1
2021-10-20	94	938	32.2	19.6	32	10.9	30.6	0	30.1	alto	1
2021-10-21	23	131	30.4	20	46	9.4	32	1.9	11.6	moderado	1
2021-10-22	53	259	30.8	20.9	44	9	27.7	0.4	19.7	moderado	1
2021-10-23	104	501	33.7	19	36	10.9	31.3	0	27.4	alto	1
2021-10-24	127	677	34.7	19.2	30	13.4	30.6	0	33.8	alto	1
2021-10-25	56	103	33	20.5	33	13	32	0	33.7	alto	1
2021-10-26	6	45	29.4	21.2	55	14.3	38.5	2	10.9	bajo	1
2021-10-27	15	76	32.5	19.8	34	11.2	31	0	24.6	alto	1
2021-10-28	13	12	31.6	21.5	43	11.1	31.3	0.2	24.8	alto	1
2021-10-29	14	40	30.7	19.5	49	9.6	23.8	0.8	18.1	moderado	1
2021-10-30	6	18	31.4	20.9	44	13.3	32.4	0	24.2	alto	1
2021-10-31	9	33	30.8	22.2	47	14.9	35.3	0	25.4	alto	1
2021-11-01	1	4	32.3	21.4	38	15.2	35.3	0.3	29.2	alto	1
2021-11-02	4	13	33.2	21.7	37	12.7	30.6	0.1	28.8	alto	1
2021-11-03	66	595	34.2	22.5	33	13.7	28.8	0	32.1	alto	1
2021-11-04	87	545	34.9	22.4	28	13.2	28.1	0	35.2	alto	1
2021-11-05	85	542	34.8	21.6	25	12.3	31.3	0	36.5	alto	1
2021-11-06	126	1,250	35.3	20.9	28	11.5	32.8	0	36.1	alto	1
2021-11-07	249	2,747	35.8	21.4	24	11.9	31.7	0	37.7	alto	1
2021-11-08	226	1,034	34.9	21.9	23	13.1	34.9	0	39.1	muy_alto	1
2021-11-09	86	384	33.4	20.2	39	11.9	30.6	0	33.2	alto	1
2021-11-10	117	782	33.5	21.7	32	12.4	30.2	0	33.9	alto	1
2021-11-11	151	985	35.9	20.4	26	12.7	32.4	0	37.2	alto	1
2021-11-12	139	675	35.8	21.6	29	13.6	34.9	0	38.2	muy_alto	1
2021-11-13	88	350	34.8	22.6	33	15.9	34.6	0	40.6	muy_alto	1
2021-11-14	76	98	33.7	22.1	33	13.3	34.2	0	37.7	alto	1
2021-11-15	100	370	33.8	21.6	30	13.1	32.8	0	37.8	alto	1
2021-11-16	98	392	33.9	20.9	26	14	32.8	0	38.8	muy_alto	1
2021-11-17	74	419	34.4	20.2	28	15.5	31	0	40.4	muy_alto	1
2021-11-18	74	332	34.9	20.9	31	14	33.1	0	39.2	muy_alto	1
2021-11-19	98	261	35.3	21.7	33	10.4	29.5	0	36.2	alto	1
2021-11-20	62	267	35.5	20.9	30	14.5	31.3	0	40.1	muy_alto	1
2021-11-21	33	162	34	20.6	33	15.8	34.2	0	40.5	muy_alto	1
2021-11-22	28	130	33.8	20.7	32	12	29.5	0	37.2	alto	1
2021-11-23	28	142	35.2	20.5	29	10.6	29.2	0	36.2	alto	1
2021-11-24	18	80	37.2	20.8	25	11.3	32.4	0	38	muy_alto	1
2021-11-25	7	12	35.2	23.7	33	13.4	36.4	0	39.1	muy_alto	1
2021-11-26	4	54	33.4	22.6	35	13.8	30.6	0	37.3	alto	0
2021-11-27	0	0	29.6	23.2	56	9.3	33.5	6.4	4.5	muy_bajo	0

It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.

Live widget for your story

It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.

Sources for this page: GWIS (Copernicus), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), GHSL (JRC). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology

Burnt area: 83,170ha; GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration: 73days; 14 Sept 2021 – 25 Nov 2021
Municipalities hit: 2; districts
Started on: 14 Sept; 2021
Heat detections: 3,878; in a single hotspot: 176 MW
Danger at start: 28; High · FWI index
Average daily power: 277MW; detected power per day, on average

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 14 Sept25 Nov

Play back 26 Nov 2021

How it evolved, day by day

14 Sept 30 Sept 15 Oct 7 Nov

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

37°high

38km/h · peak gust

23%lowest humidity

It had gone 3 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 6.4 mm on 27 Nov.

This area had burned before

61% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 23,787 ha in 2016, 11,982 ha in 2017, 29,638 ha in 2018, 3,267 ha in 2019, 105 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 51,102 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

It burned the equivalent of 53% of the area of London (832 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

Ulanga where it started

52,754 ha reached on 14 Sept

2.2 %
Namtumbo

31,619 ha reached on 25 Sept

1.4 %

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 2020

Built-up area0.48 ha

Residents≈ 250

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.48 hectares of built-up land and about 250 residents (GHSL 2020, 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)
14 Sept	30.2 °C	35 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 28
15 Sept	29.2 °C	42 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
16 Sept	28.0 °C	49 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 26
17 Sept	30.3 °C	41 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	High 24
18 Sept	32.1 °C	35 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
19 Sept	30.0 °C	41 %	27 km/h	0.1 mm	High 28
20 Sept	28.4 °C	50 %	27 km/h	0.4 mm	High 24
21 Sept	28.5 °C	44 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
22 Sept	30.3 °C	37 %	31 km/h	0.4 mm	High 25
23 Sept	30.9 °C	37 %	29 km/h	0.6 mm	High 26
24 Sept	28.9 °C	40 %	31 km/h	0.6 mm	High 23
25 Sept	31.5 °C	34 %	36 km/h	0.3 mm	High 28
26 Sept	30.9 °C	31 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
27 Sept	31.5 °C	31 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
28 Sept	32.5 °C	30 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
29 Sept	29.9 °C	42 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
30 Sept	32.1 °C	34 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
1 Oct	30.0 °C	43 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 28
2 Oct	31.7 °C	35 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
3 Oct	32.0 °C	39 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
4 Oct	32.0 °C	36 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
5 Oct	33.0 °C	28 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
6 Oct	31.5 °C	34 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
7 Oct	32.8 °C	34 %	29 km/h	0.1 mm	High 32
8 Oct	30.2 °C	46 %	27 km/h	0.5 mm	High 26
9 Oct	28.5 °C	49 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 27
10 Oct	29.8 °C	40 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 27
11 Oct	31.8 °C	35 %	35 km/h	0.2 mm	High 29
12 Oct	29.9 °C	45 %	31 km/h	0.3 mm	High 26
13 Oct	31.2 °C	38 %	29 km/h	0.5 mm	High 27
14 Oct	32.7 °C	35 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
15 Oct	32.1 °C	39 %	31 km/h	0.1 mm	High 31
16 Oct	32.5 °C	34 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
17 Oct	29.4 °C	44 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
18 Oct	29.3 °C	46 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
19 Oct	30.2 °C	43 %	31 km/h	0.5 mm	High 27
20 Oct	32.2 °C	32 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
21 Oct	30.4 °C	46 %	32 km/h	1.9 mm	Moderate 12
22 Oct	30.8 °C	44 %	28 km/h	0.4 mm	Moderate 20
23 Oct	33.7 °C	36 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 27
24 Oct	34.7 °C	30 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
25 Oct	33.0 °C	33 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
26 Oct	29.4 °C	55 %	38 km/h	2.0 mm	Low 11
27 Oct	32.5 °C	34 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
28 Oct	31.6 °C	43 %	31 km/h	0.2 mm	High 25
29 Oct	30.7 °C	49 %	24 km/h	0.8 mm	Moderate 18
30 Oct	31.4 °C	44 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 24
31 Oct	30.8 °C	47 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
1 Nov	32.3 °C	38 %	35 km/h	0.3 mm	High 29
2 Nov	33.2 °C	37 %	31 km/h	0.1 mm	High 29
3 Nov	34.2 °C	33 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
4 Nov	34.9 °C	28 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
5 Nov	34.8 °C	25 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
6 Nov	35.3 °C	28 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
7 Nov	35.8 °C	24 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
8 Nov	34.9 °C	23 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
9 Nov	33.4 °C	39 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
10 Nov	33.5 °C	32 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
11 Nov	35.9 °C	26 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
12 Nov	35.8 °C	29 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 38
13 Nov	34.8 °C	33 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
14 Nov	33.7 °C	33 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
15 Nov	33.8 °C	30 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
16 Nov	33.9 °C	26 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
17 Nov	34.4 °C	28 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
18 Nov	34.9 °C	31 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
19 Nov	35.3 °C	33 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
20 Nov	35.5 °C	30 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
21 Nov	34.0 °C	33 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
22 Nov	33.8 °C	32 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
23 Nov	35.2 °C	29 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
24 Nov	37.2 °C	25 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 38
25 Nov	35.2 °C	33 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
26 Nov after	33.4 °C	35 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
27 Nov after	29.6 °C	56 %	34 km/h	6.4 mm	Very low 4

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 28.5, a minimum humidity of 35% and 3 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 27.

FWI at the start 28.5

Minimum humidity 35 %

Days without rain 3

this fire chosen twins rest of the area

How alike they must beTwins: 27

Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Same scale

Njombe fire, October 2017

4,533 ha 3 days FWI 28.1 Min. humidity 33 % 156 km away, in 2017

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.7 mm on 25 Oct.

See its page Compare with this fire

What happened to them

9 days
median duration: 4,570 ha
median area: 19 %
went past 10,000 ha: 2.0 mm
rain at the end (median; 19 of 27 had it)

It was 18.2 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 73 days, against 9 days.

None of its 27 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 8 of 27, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.0 mm.

This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it

How it ended

6.4 mmfirst rain

27 Nov2 days after it ended

38km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 25 Nov, and on 27 Nov 6.4 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 19 of 27, with a median of 2.0 mm.

Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

How a twin is chosen

Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

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Before · 7 Sept 2021

After · 2 Dec 2021

Before After

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 · 3,878Every 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 time	Satellite	FRP (MW)	Lat	Lon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Tanzania

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Ulanga fire last?: According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 14 September 2021 to 25 November 2021 (73 days). The perimeter dates it from 14 September 2021 to 24 November 2021.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 83,170 hectares (831.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ulanga (52,754 ha, 2.2 %); Namtumbo (31,619 ha, 1.4 %).
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 37.2 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 38 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 41, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?: From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Tanzania (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?: Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 27. Their median duration was 9 days and their median area 4,570 ha; 19 % went past 10,000 ha. None of its 27 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 8 of 27, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 2.0 mm.

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

NASA FIRMS ↗
GWIS · Copernicus ↗

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

27 October 2026 Last day with fire: 24 November 2021 → 25 November 2021.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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

What do you think is wrong?

Dates or duration Place or towns Burned area Name It was not a wildfire Same fire as another page Something else

What really happened?

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We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 112.

How we know this

Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 8 polygons grouped in this page.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 14 September 2021 to 24 November 2021. 3,878 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 2020, 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.

Use this data

Burned area

Duration by satellite

Start

Hotspots

The worst day

Danger at the start

Weather during the fire

Living inside

What was saved on 27 October 2026

Versioned permanent link

Citation

A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives

CSV for this fire ulanga-2021-09-3.csv · daily, no individual hotspots

Live widget for your story

Where it burned

How it evolved, day by day

The weather it burned in

This area had burned before

How big is it?

What happened to each town

People and buildings inside the perimeter

The weather day by day

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

Outlines of the closest twins

What happened to them

How it ended

How a twin is chosen

Before and after, from space

Other fires nearby

Frequently asked questions

Where to verify it

Does something look wrong on this page?

Where this data comes from