This database contains open, harmonized, and ready-to-use global data on holdover time. Holdover time is defined as the time between lightning-induced fire ignition and fire detection. The first version of the database is composed of three data files (censored data, non-censored data, ancillary data) and three metadata files (description of database variables, list of references, reproducible examples). These data were collected through a literature review of LIW studies and some datasets were assembled by authors of the original studies, covering more than 150,000 LIW from 13 countries in five continents and a time span of a century from 1921 to 2020. Censored data are the core of the database and consist of frequency data reporting the number or relative frequency of LIW per interval of holdover time. Ancillary data provide additional information on the methods and contexts in which the data were generated in the original studies. Potential contributors to the database are encouraged to contact the corresponding author in the readme file.