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SS · South Sudan · →

Wau fire, 15 November 2025 Nagero, Wau, Jur River

Out · last detection 30 Dec 2025, 23:36 UTC

The fire started on 15 November 2025 in Wau, South Sudan, and satellites saw it burning for 46 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 77,790 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 9th largest in Western Bahr el Ghazal since 2016 (of 431 with a page). Number 12 in South Sudan in 2025, of 292.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Wau · 2016Nagero · 2021Nagero · 2016Wau · 2017

Burnt area
77,790ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
46days
15 Nov 2025 – 30 Dec 2025
Municipalities hit
3
counties
Started on
15 Nov
2025
Heat detections
2,480
in a single hotspot: 222 MW
Danger at start
23
High · FWI index
Average daily power
581MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 15 Nov30 Dec
30 Dec 2025

How it evolved, day by day

15 Nov 2025 · 68 MW · 7 17 Nov 2025 · 71 MW · 6 20 Nov 2025 · 654 MW · 72 21 Nov 2025 · 1,143 MW · 76 22 Nov 2025 · 88 MW · 13 23 Nov 2025 · 51 MW · 10 24 Nov 2025 · 44 MW · 8 25 Nov 2025 · 1,053 MW · 68 26 Nov 2025 · 947 MW · 118 27 Nov 2025 · 293 MW · 64 28 Nov 2025 · 1,963 MW · 177 29 Nov 2025 · 1,167 MW · 87 30 Nov 2025 · 889 MW · 83 1 Dec 2025 · 1,701 MW · 121 2 Dec 2025 · 1,882 MW · 185 3 Dec 2025 · 1,155 MW · 105 4 Dec 2025 · 1,559 MW · 126 5 Dec 2025 · 16 MW · 11 6 Dec 2025 · 78 MW · 8 7 Dec 2025 · 1,227 MW · 85 8 Dec 2025 · 154 MW · 25 9 Dec 2025 · 10 MW · 7 10 Dec 2025 · 813 MW · 75 11 Dec 2025 · 269 MW · 50 12 Dec 2025 · 272 MW · 48 13 Dec 2025 · 1,205 MW · 124 14 Dec 2025 · 1,071 MW · 118 15 Dec 2025 · 1,367 MW · 99 16 Dec 2025 · 738 MW · 54 17 Dec 2025 · 233 MW · 29 18 Dec 2025 · 197 MW · 52 19 Dec 2025 · 404 MW · 71 20 Dec 2025 · 596 MW · 59 21 Dec 2025 · 187 MW · 46 22 Dec 2025 · 58 MW · 9 23 Dec 2025 · 161 MW · 16 24 Dec 2025 · 10 MW · 4 25 Dec 2025 · 362 MW · 60 26 Dec 2025 · 211 MW · 26 27 Dec 2025 · 172 MW · 25 28 Dec 2025 · 8 MW · 3 29 Dec 2025 · 332 MW · 24 30 Dec 2025 · 86 MW · 26
15 Nov 25 Nov 28 Nov 2 Dec 9 Dec 16 Dec 23 Dec 30 Dec

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
40km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone 9 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

93% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 51,919 ha in 2016, 22,419 ha in 2017, 15,167 ha in 2018, 23,604 ha in 2019, 18,565 ha in 2020, 35,245 ha in 2021, 10,755 ha in 2022, 10,227 ha in 2023, 25,696 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 72,590 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 49% of the area of London (778 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. Nagero
    44,813 ha reached on 24 Nov
    4.8 %
  2. Wau where it started
    33,438 ha reached on 15 Nov
    1.7 %
  3. Jur River
    34 ha reached on 10 Dec
    0.0 %

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 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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)
15 Nov 32.7 °C 23 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
16 Nov 31.9 °C 22 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
17 Nov 32.9 °C 29 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
18 Nov 33.8 °C 27 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
19 Nov 34.3 °C 28 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
20 Nov 33.8 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
21 Nov 35.1 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
22 Nov 35.4 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
23 Nov 35.5 °C 21 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
24 Nov 36.6 °C 18 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Nov 36.2 °C 19 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
26 Nov 35.1 °C 21 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
27 Nov 35.0 °C 20 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
28 Nov 35.9 °C 20 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
29 Nov 35.1 °C 23 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
30 Nov 36.1 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
1 Dec 35.8 °C 23 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
2 Dec 35.8 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
3 Dec 35.2 °C 20 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
4 Dec 36.2 °C 16 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
5 Dec 34.9 °C 24 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
6 Dec 35.5 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
7 Dec 35.0 °C 24 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 40
8 Dec 35.9 °C 24 % 33 km/h 0.5 mm Very high 41
9 Dec 33.6 °C 29 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Dec 33.8 °C 22 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
11 Dec 33.6 °C 20 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
12 Dec 33.9 °C 18 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
13 Dec 33.3 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
14 Dec 33.3 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
15 Dec 33.3 °C 21 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
16 Dec 31.9 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
17 Dec 32.5 °C 18 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
18 Dec 32.3 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
19 Dec 32.8 °C 17 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
20 Dec 33.5 °C 17 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
21 Dec 34.7 °C 16 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
22 Dec 33.9 °C 17 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
23 Dec 33.6 °C 29 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
24 Dec 35.7 °C 21 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
25 Dec 35.6 °C 16 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Dec 35.6 °C 17 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
27 Dec 36.2 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
28 Dec 33.8 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
29 Dec 33.5 °C 13 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
30 Dec 33.3 °C 15 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
31 Dec after 32.6 °C 13 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
1 Jan after 34.3 °C 14 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
2 Jan after 35.7 °C 17 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
3 Jan after 35.7 °C 18 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
4 Jan after 35.3 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
5 Jan after 35.3 °C 17 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
6 Jan after 35.2 °C 17 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
7 Jan after 35.3 °C 18 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
8 Jan after 36.5 °C 16 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
9 Jan after 36.2 °C 17 % 32 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.

Before · 8 Nov 2025
After · 6 Jan 2026

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 · Copernicus

On 24 December 2025 the air beside the fire reached 83 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 54: 3.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak83 µg/m³
Days over the guideline43 days
PM10110 µg/m³
Optical depth0.86
18192021222324252627282930123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

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 · 2,480Every 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 Wau fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 15 November 2025 to 30 December 2025 (46 days). The perimeter dates it from 20 November 2025 to 27 December 2025.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 77,790 hectares (777.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Nagero (44,813 ha, 4.8 %); Wau (33,438 ha, 1.7 %); Jur River (34 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.6 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 40 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 47, class Very high.
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: 27 December 2025 → 30 December 2025.
  2. Start date: 20 November 2025 → 15 November 2025.

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; 7 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 20 November 2025 to 27 December 2025. 2,480 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.

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.