Zala fire, January 2019 Zala, Daramalo, Kucha
The fire started on 10 January 2019 in Zala, Ethiopia, and satellites saw it burning for 6 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,740 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 92th largest in SNNPR since 2016 (of 186 with a page). Number 134 in Ethiopia in 2019, of 220.
- Burnt area
- 2,740ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 6days
- 10 Jan 2019 – 15 Jan 2019
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- districts
- Started on
- 10 Jan
- 2019
- Heat detections
- 64
- in a single hotspot: 119 MW
- Danger at start
- 15
- Moderate · FWI index
- Energy released
- 814MW
- 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 8 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.
What happened to each town
-
Zala where it started2,159 ha reached on 10 Jan3.0 %
-
568 ha reached on 11 Jan1.6 %
-
31 ha0.0 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Jan | 34.1 °C | 21 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 15 |
| 11 Jan | 33.6 °C | 24 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 12 Jan | 33.7 °C | 18 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 13 Jan | 33.4 °C | 22 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 14 Jan | 34.2 °C | 20 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 15 Jan | 34.7 °C | 25 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 16 Jan after | 34.1 °C | 25 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 17 Jan after | 34.7 °C | 26 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 18 Jan after | 34.7 °C | 25 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 21 |
| 19 Jan after | 33.0 °C | 30 % | 17 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 20 Jan after | 33.8 °C | 30 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 21 Jan after | 33.6 °C | 30 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 19 |
| 22 Jan after | 33.9 °C | 30 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 23 Jan after | 34.4 °C | 27 % | 20 km/h | 0.2 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 24 Jan after | 34.0 °C | 29 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 25 Jan after | 35.4 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
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 · 64Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 2,066 haKuchaJanuary 2017 · 3 days · 13 km away
- 2,524 haDenibu GofaDecember 2018 · 3 days · 35 km away
- 2,278 haLoma BosaNovember 2020 · 4 days · 36 km away
- 7,423 haLoma BosaDecember 2016 · 11 days · 37 km away
- 3,612 haLoma BosaDecember 2020 · 6 days · 37 km away
- 2,146 haLoma BosaJanuary 2025 · 3 days · 38 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Zala fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 10 January 2019 and 15 January 2019: 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 2,740 hectares (27.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Zala (2,159 ha, 3.0 %); Daramalo (568 ha, 1.6 %); Kucha (31 ha, 0.0 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 34.7 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 27 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 19, class Moderate.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Ethiopia (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 ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). 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.