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Wildfires in Otago
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 09:19 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 2,480 km² of Otago at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 209 km², ranking 2nd of 17 regions of New Zealand.
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 2019, with 328 km² detected; the quietest was 2024, with 119 km². The 2021–2025 average is 22% 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 50% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 8 September 2020, with detections in 33 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 2,480 km² with at least one detection, 2.1% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 2,110 | 85% |
| 2 years | 324 | 13% |
| 3 to 5 years | 53 | 2.1% |
| 6 to 10 years | 0.0 | 0.0% |
| 11 years or more | 0.0 | 0.0% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -46.25, 169.75 and holds 11% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 179 | 217 |
| 2013 | 235 | 286 |
| 2014 | 288 | 370 |
| 2015 | 217 | 283 |
| 2016 | 180 | 222 |
| 2017 | 178 | 225 |
| 2018 | 202 | 263 |
| 2019 | 328 | 405 |
| 2020 | 254 | 320 |
| 2021 | 212 | 264 |
| 2022 | 210 | 278 |
| 2023 | 156 | 193 |
| 2024 | 119 | 147 |
| 2025 | 165 | 202 |
Other regions of New Zealand
- Canterbury627 km² in an average year
- Southland169 km² in an average year
- Manawatū-Whanganui149 km² in an average year
- Waikato140 km² in an average year
- Northland137 km² in an average year
- Taranaki101 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
- Southland95 km
- Canterbury319 km
- Manawatū-Whanganui801 km
- Taranaki860 km
- Hawke's Bay919 km
- Waikato1,048 km