AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Balaka
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 06:21 UTC
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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 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 2,080 km² of Balaka at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 802 km², ranking 17th of 28 regions of Malawi.
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 2020, with 1,020 km² detected; the quietest was 2024, with 614 km². The 2021–2025 average is 6.2% 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.
July, August and September together hold 71% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 19 August 2013, with detections in 47 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 2,080 km² with at least one detection, 82% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 158 | 7.6% |
| 2 years | 218 | 10% |
| 3 to 5 years | 740 | 36% |
| 6 to 10 years | 870 | 42% |
| 11 years or more | 93 | 4.5% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -14.75, 35.25 and holds 41% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 710 | 792 |
| 2013 | 971 | 1,115 |
| 2014 | 932 | 1,036 |
| 2015 | 668 | 702 |
| 2016 | 694 | 748 |
| 2017 | 788 | 840 |
| 2018 | 761 | 823 |
| 2019 | 950 | 1,074 |
| 2020 | 1,020 | 1,229 |
| 2021 | 886 | 1,001 |
| 2022 | 649 | 684 |
| 2023 | 924 | 1,081 |
| 2024 | 614 | 659 |
| 2025 | 657 | 702 |
Other regions of Malawi
- Mzimba3,870 km² in an average year
- Kasungu3,240 km² in an average year
- Mangochi2,950 km² in an average year
- Nkhata Bay2,760 km² in an average year
- Rumphi2,490 km² in an average year
- Nkhotakota2,460 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.