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Wildfires in Malawi
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 05:23 UTC
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Regions
- Balaka2 fires
- Blantyre2 fires
- Chikwawa11 fires
- Chiradzuluno fires now
- Chitipa43 fires
- Dedza5 fires
- Dowa3 fires
- Kasungu33 fires
- Lilongwe3 fires
- Machinga9 fires
- Mangochi9 fires
- Mchinji5 fires
- Mulanje2 fires
- Mwanza2 fires
- Mzimba63 fires
- Neno5 fires
- Nkhata Bay26 fires
- Nkhotakota34 fires
- Nsanje8 fires
- Ntcheu1 fire
- Ntchisi10 fires
- Phalombe1 fire
- Rumphi31 fires
- Salima4 fires
- Thyolo2 fires
- Zomba3 fires
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-21
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 86,910 km² of Malawi at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 36,390 km², ranking 48th of 200 countries.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2012, with 43,740 km² detected; the quietest was 2024, with 28,360 km². The 2021–2025 average is 24% lower than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
August, September and October together hold 71% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 15 October 2012, with detections in 1,071 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 86,910 km² with at least one detection, 78% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 10,220 | 12% |
| 2 years | 8,940 | 10% |
| 3 to 5 years | 23,820 | 27% |
| 6 to 10 years | 33,620 | 39% |
| 11 years or more | 10,310 | 12% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -12.25, 33.75 and holds 5.9% of the country's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 43,740 | 55,484 |
| 2013 | 42,920 | 53,406 |
| 2014 | 39,750 | 48,995 |
| 2015 | 40,160 | 50,557 |
| 2016 | 39,260 | 49,852 |
| 2017 | 37,080 | 44,090 |
| 2018 | 35,830 | 43,534 |
| 2019 | 37,630 | 46,580 |
| 2020 | 37,630 | 46,604 |
| 2021 | 35,660 | 44,114 |
| 2022 | 29,750 | 35,979 |
| 2023 | 31,720 | 39,324 |
| 2024 | 28,360 | 33,725 |
| 2025 | 30,030 | 36,744 |
Nearby countries
- Democratic Republic of the Congo898,730 km² in an average year
- Angola616,940 km² in an average year
- Zambia445,810 km² in an average year
- Mozambique404,050 km² in an average year
- Central African Republic340,550 km² in an average year
- South Sudan321,060 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby countries
What sits behind each of these fires
Attached to every fire in the list above, and redrawn hourly.
