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Wildfires in Sabah
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 13:28 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 11,950 km² of Sabah at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 1,600 km², ranking 2nd of 16 regions of Malaysia.
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 2016, with 3,170 km² detected; the quietest was 2022, with 520 km². The 2021–2025 average is 62% 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.
March, April and May together hold 43% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 3 April 2016, with detections in 138 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 11,950 km² with at least one detection, 22% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 6,520 | 55% |
| 2 years | 2,790 | 23% |
| 3 to 5 years | 2,330 | 20% |
| 6 to 10 years | 287 | 2.4% |
| 11 years or more | 7.4 | 0.1% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at 5.25, 116.25 and holds 11% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1,790 | 1,812 |
| 2013 | 1,640 | 1,636 |
| 2014 | 2,450 | 2,801 |
| 2015 | 3,060 | 3,845 |
| 2016 | 3,170 | 4,652 |
| 2017 | 867 | 856 |
| 2018 | 1,430 | 1,382 |
| 2019 | 1,960 | 2,207 |
| 2020 | 1,380 | 1,449 |
| 2021 | 982 | 918 |
| 2022 | 520 | 486 |
| 2023 | 1,010 | 971 |
| 2024 | 1,490 | 1,809 |
| 2025 | 644 | 594 |
Other regions of Malaysia
- Sarawak2,700 km² in an average year
- Pahang1,150 km² in an average year
- Kedah466 km² in an average year
- Johor461 km² in an average year
- Kelantan371 km² in an average year
- Terengganu330 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 regions
- Belait, Brunei Darussalam228 km
- Sarawak400 km
- Palawan, Philippines496 km
- Puerto Princesa, Philippines571 km
- East Kalimantan, Indonesia676 km
- Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines718 km