Fire near Benguela (AO)

13.36°S, 13.97°E · first detected on 8 September at 14:36

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 8 September at 14:36 to 30 September at 17:07, that is 22 days, through 560 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 8,715 ha.

Detected extent: 8,715 ha
Cumulative power: 6,254 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 130 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 560

These four figures cover the polar orbits alone, the ones that measure an area. The pass table below also counts geostationary detections, more frequent but too coarse for geometry, and its power column sums a whole pass where the peak above is that of a single pixel.

“Detected extent” is not “burned area”: it is the union of the ground footprints of the satellite pixels, and a pixel counts in full (375 m for VIIRS, 1 km for MODIS) even when only a forest edge is burning. Compared with press figures it is in practice one and a half to three times the area reported. Detections taken at the edge of the scan swath, too coarse to measure anything at all, are excluded. These figures come from thermal detection and are not an official assessment: only the emergency services and the competent authorities are authoritative.

Replay how the fire spread

The map is framed on this fire's footprint and loads only its detections. The timeline below covers the period in which satellites saw it, from the first to the last detection, with twelve hours before and twenty-four after; the ticks on the bar mark the emergency services' announcements that fall within it. The cursor opens on the most powerful pass, and playback replays the whole fire in about thirty seconds. “1 h” shows what is burning within an hour of the chosen moment : the map then follows the power curve below and empties when it falls. “24 h” stacks twenty-four hours : a fire stays visible between two satellite passes, which come two to four times a day. Both are true, but they say different things.

How the radiative power evolved

One point per satellite pass: the sum of the fire radiative power measured over the fire. This is the curve that says whether the fire eased off or picked up again, which no cumulative figure shows. The window covers 25 days; beyond that, clustering would merge two successive fires in the same place.

Fire dynamics

Loading history…

Satellite passes in detail

Pass	Power summed over the pass	Detections	Sensor
1 October at 15:25	931 MW	126	N
1 October at 14:49	1,493 MW	145	N21
1 October at 14:04	871 MW	119	N20
1 October at 09:46	13 MW	1	Terra
30 September at 17:07	240 MW	18	Aqua
30 September at 15:44	49 MW	6	N
30 September at 15:08	375 MW	36	N21
30 September at 14:23	530 MW	75	N20
30 September at 14:04	347 MW	42	N
30 September at 02:35	3 MW	2	N21
29 September at 16:29	234 MW	9	Aqua
29 September at 15:25	874 MW	28	N21
29 September at 14:42	448 MW	86	N20
29 September at 14:21	553 MW	54	N
29 September at 13:47	81 MW	10	N21
29 September at 02:07	2 MW	1	N20
29 September at 01:50	9 MW	3	N
28 September at 17:29	121 MW	2	Aqua
28 September at 14:59	334 MW	51	N20
28 September at 14:04	223 MW	35	N21
28 September at 09:29	8 MW	1	Terra
28 September at 02:28	1 MW	1	N20
27 September at 16:52	245 MW	12	Aqua
27 September at 15:21	212 MW	41	N20
27 September at 14:59	366 MW	50	N
27 September at 14:23	219 MW	30	N21
27 September at 02:45	2 MW	2	N20
27 September at 02:26	2 MW	3	N
27 September at 01:50	1 MW	1	N21
26 September at 16:14	121 MW	2	Aqua
26 September at 15:38	504 MW	28	N20
26 September at 15:21	724 MW	86	N
26 September at 14:42	847 MW	100	N21
26 September at 13:57	754 MW	62	N20
26 September at 09:48	12 MW	1	Terra
26 September at 03:06	1 MW	2	N20
26 September at 02:45	3 MW	3	N
26 September at 02:07	8 MW	7	N21
25 September at 17:14	407 MW	16	Aqua
25 September at 15:38	312 MW	35	N
25 September at 15:01	832 MW	87	N21
25 September at 14:17	731 MW	88	N20
25 September at 13:57	199 MW	19	N
25 September at 03:05	11 MW	5	N
25 September at 02:28	6 MW	2	N21
25 September at 01:44	1 MW	1	N20
24 September at 16:35	27 MW	1	Aqua
24 September at 02:01	1 MW	1	N20
23 September at 21:42	116 MW	11	Terra
23 September at 17:35	306 MW	4	Aqua
23 September at 14:53	337 MW	37	N20
23 September at 14:34	438 MW	30	N
23 September at 13:57	319 MW	15	N21
23 September at 03:07	2 MW	1	N21
23 September at 02:22	5 MW	5	N20
23 September at 02:03	4 MW	3	N
23 September at 01:26	6 MW	3	N21
22 September at 16:57	716 MW	55	Aqua
22 September at 15:14	1,276 MW	94	N20
22 September at 14:53	1,507 MW	181	N
22 September at 14:19	1,054 MW	111	N21
22 September at 04:47	10 MW	1	Aqua
22 September at 02:39	1 MW	1	N20
22 September at 02:20	2 MW	2	N
22 September at 01:44	2 MW	3	N21
21 September at 16:20	510 MW	12	Aqua
21 September at 15:31	521 MW	58	N20
21 September at 15:12	851 MW	106	N
21 September at 14:36	850 MW	109	N21
21 September at 13:51	410 MW	39	N20
21 September at 02:39	1 MW	1	N
21 September at 02:03	3 MW	3	N21
20 September at 17:20	28 MW	1	Aqua
20 September at 15:31	126 MW	17	N
20 September at 14:54	306 MW	37	N21
20 September at 14:10	220 MW	20	N20
19 September at 16:42	210 MW	18	Aqua
19 September at 15:14	679 MW	59	N21
19 September at 14:29	451 MW	68	N20
19 September at 14:10	236 MW	32	N
19 September at 02:39	1 MW	1	N21
18 September at 15:31	982 MW	32	N21
18 September at 14:46	1,357 MW	105	N20
18 September at 14:27	1,013 MW	76	N
18 September at 13:51	215 MW	23	N21
18 September at 03:00	6 MW	3	N21
18 September at 02:13	5 MW	5	N20
18 September at 01:56	2 MW	3	N
17 September at 17:03	283 MW	17	Aqua
17 September at 15:06	621 MW	53	N20
17 September at 14:49	360 MW	61	N
17 September at 14:10	355 MW	33	N21
17 September at 02:35	3 MW	2	N20
17 September at 02:13	4 MW	5	N
17 September at 01:37	4 MW	4	N21
16 September at 16:27	934 MW	24	Aqua
16 September at 15:25	1,418 MW	129	N20
16 September at 15:06	1,484 MW	141	N
16 September at 14:29	1,086 MW	102	N21
16 September at 13:47	3 MW	1	N20
16 September at 09:52	24 MW	2	Terra
16 September at 02:52	2 MW	2	N20
16 September at 02:33	7 MW	6	N
16 September at 01:56	4 MW	3	N21
15 September at 17:26	239 MW	4	Aqua
15 September at 15:25	825 MW	114	N
15 September at 14:49	973 MW	109	N21
15 September at 14:04	724 MW	108	N20
15 September at 02:52	4 MW	4	N
15 September at 02:16	8 MW	7	N21
14 September at 16:48	518 MW	39	Aqua
14 September at 15:44	746 MW	45	N
14 September at 15:08	883 MW	72	N21
14 September at 14:21	701 MW	83	N20
14 September at 14:04	645 MW	42	N
13 September at 15:25	575 MW	17	N21
13 September at 14:42	142 MW	30	N20
13 September at 14:21	185 MW	25	N
13 September at 13:47	86 MW	4	N21
12 September at 17:12	225 MW	11	Aqua
12 September at 14:59	766 MW	69	N20
12 September at 14:41	901 MW	99	N
12 September at 14:04	777 MW	55	N21
12 September at 02:28	1 MW	1	N20
11 September at 16:33	454 MW	20	Aqua
11 September at 15:21	644 MW	76	N20
11 September at 14:59	813 MW	100	N
11 September at 14:23	721 MW	69	N21
11 September at 02:45	2 MW	3	N20
11 September at 02:26	5 MW	5	N
11 September at 01:50	15 MW	3	N21
10 September at 21:28	14 MW	1	Terra
10 September at 15:38	211 MW	19	N20
10 September at 15:18	285 MW	26	N
10 September at 14:42	713 MW	92	N21
10 September at 13:57	332 MW	36	N20
10 September at 02:07	1 MW	1	N21
8 September at 16:16	90 MW	1	Aqua
8 September at 15:21	559 MW	32	N21
8 September at 14:36	619 MW	54	N20
8 September at 14:17	128 MW	21	N
8 September at 03:22	3 MW	1	N
8 September at 02:45	14 MW	3	N21
8 September at 02:01	9 MW	5	N20
7 September at 17:16	224 MW	8	Aqua
7 September at 14:53	192 MW	22	N20
7 September at 14:34	337 MW	29	N
7 September at 13:57	107 MW	16	N21
7 September at 03:07	14 MW	4	N21
7 September at 02:20	2 MW	1	N20
7 September at 02:03	1 MW	1	N

8 other fires near Benguela (AO)

Separate fires, apart in time or in space, not pieces of this one. A single municipality can have several over one summer, and a forest massif often covers more than a hundred square kilometres.

Follow live

The map shows active fires in 3D, with smoke plumes, forecast wind, drop zones and the live position of water bombers tracked by ADS-B, anywhere in the world.

Open the fire map

Take the data of this fire with you

A ready-to-use archive, paid once, no subscription. It contains:

the satellite detections of the fire
the contours of its progression
the drops and the aircraft tracks
the lightning around it
the severity of the burned area, when computed

From €20.00 excl. VAT, six formats to choose from, link valid for 30 days.

Download the data

Pro subscribers: included. €49 excl. VAT a month, no commitment. The public map stays free. Discover GISFire Pro

© 2026 SARO · Gistin. All rights reserved. The interface, its presentation and the contents of GISFire are protected; reproducing or imitating them requires written permission. The source data remain the property of their respective producers, see the credits.

Legal notice · Privacy policy · · GISFire v2.4.2