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Wildfires in Central
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 09:22 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 7,780 km² of Central at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 2,380 km², ranking 4th of 20 regions of Papua New Guinea.
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 2015, with 4,200 km² detected; the quietest was 2025, with 1,740 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.
July, August and September together hold 53% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 4 September 2013, with detections in 205 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 7,780 km² with at least one detection, 59% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 2,030 | 26% |
| 2 years | 1,160 | 15% |
| 3 to 5 years | 2,170 | 28% |
| 6 to 10 years | 1,970 | 25% |
| 11 years or more | 456 | 5.9% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -9.75, 147.75 and holds 26% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2,140 | 2,276 |
| 2013 | 2,570 | 2,921 |
| 2014 | 2,050 | 2,582 |
| 2015 | 4,200 | 5,803 |
| 2016 | 2,680 | 3,604 |
| 2017 | 2,100 | 2,389 |
| 2018 | 2,880 | 3,549 |
| 2019 | 2,220 | 2,573 |
| 2020 | 1,780 | 1,964 |
| 2021 | 2,010 | 2,264 |
| 2022 | 2,300 | 2,612 |
| 2023 | 2,520 | 2,877 |
| 2024 | 2,100 | 2,347 |
| 2025 | 1,740 | 1,891 |
Other regions of Papua New Guinea
- Western4,740 km² in an average year
- East Sepik2,660 km² in an average year
- Morobe2,640 km² in an average year
- Madang2,180 km² in an average year
- Eastern Highlands1,570 km² in an average year
- Oro1,300 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
- Port Moresby78 km
- Oro109 km
- Milne Bay219 km
- Gulf234 km
- Morobe422 km
- Eastern Highlands447 km