Fire near Bié (AO)

11.62°S, 17.41°E · first detected on 23 September at 13:57

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 23 September at 13:57 to 22 October at 16:18, that is 29 days, through 2,408 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 43,153 ha.

Detected extent: 43,153 ha
Cumulative power: 20,303 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 134 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 2,408
Estimated emissions: 7.7 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 5 October 2026 to 21 October 2026. An order-of-magnitude estimate from GFAS (ECMWF, Copernicus CAMS): it also counts neighbouring fires in the same cell. Contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information (2026). Published data stop on 21 October 2026.

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 30 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
22 October at 17:23	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:53	10 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:43	16 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:33	14 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:23	10 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:18	66 MW	4	Aqua
22 October at 16:13	21 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:53	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:43	17 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:35	32 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 15:33	38 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:31	49 MW	4	N
22 October at 15:23	47 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 15:20	48 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 15:13	23 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:03	26 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 14:55	70 MW	8	N21
22 October at 14:53	38 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 14:43	49 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 14:33	45 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 14:13	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 14:12	102 MW	14	N20
22 October at 13:51	5 MW	1	N
22 October at 13:33	32 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:53	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 01:37	2 MW	2	N20
21 October at 14:29	38 MW	10	N20
21 October at 13:34	3 MW	1	N21
20 October at 18:03	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 17:03	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:53	16 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:43	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:40	73 MW	8	Aqua
20 October at 15:23	142 MW	5	Met12
20 October at 15:20	48 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 15:20	51 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 15:13	16 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:53	30 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:49	190 MW	29	N20
20 October at 14:43	65 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:33	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:29	104 MW	23	N
20 October at 13:51	134 MW	16	N21
20 October at 13:13	13 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 15:08	77 MW	18	N20
19 October at 14:49	144 MW	24	N
19 October at 14:12	75 MW	12	N21
19 October at 02:35	3 MW	2	N20
19 October at 02:13	2 MW	1	N
19 October at 01:37	2 MW	2	N21
18 October at 17:01	55 MW	2	Aqua
18 October at 15:08	20 MW	3	N
18 October at 14:29	65 MW	7	N21
18 October at 13:47	13 MW	3	N20
17 October at 15:25	59 MW	7	N
17 October at 14:51	93 MW	15	N21
17 October at 14:04	87 MW	14	N20
17 October at 13:47	7 MW	2	N
16 October at 15:08	62 MW	6	N21
16 October at 14:23	78 MW	16	N20
16 October at 14:04	9 MW	2	N
15 October at 16:46	50 MW	6	Aqua
15 October at 14:42	76 MW	15	N20
15 October at 14:21	76 MW	14	N
15 October at 13:47	38 MW	7	N21
14 October at 15:01	164 MW	16	N20
14 October at 14:42	150 MW	34	N
14 October at 14:04	209 MW	22	N21
13 October at 14:59	14 MW	2	N
13 October at 14:23	22 MW	6	N21
11 October at 14:19	12 MW	3	N20
11 October at 13:57	4 MW	1	N
10 October at 16:54	18 MW	1	Aqua
10 October at 14:17	7 MW	1	N
9 October at 14:55	101 MW	15	N20
9 October at 14:36	3 MW	1	N
9 October at 13:57	14 MW	3	N21
8 October at 15:14	60 MW	9	N20
8 October at 14:53	335 MW	37	N
8 October at 14:19	257 MW	47	N21
7 October at 15:14	7 MW	2	N
7 October at 14:36	3 MW	1	N21
7 October at 13:51	85 MW	9	N20
6 October at 14:12	246 MW	17	N20
6 October at 13:51	94 MW	12	N
6 October at 01:35	0 MW	1	N20
5 October at 15:14	75 MW	2	N21
5 October at 14:29	330 MW	32	N20
5 October at 14:10	455 MW	41	N
5 October at 13:34	329 MW	21	N21
5 October at 01:56	3 MW	3	N20
5 October at 01:35	3 MW	3	N
4 October at 16:23	183 MW	9	Aqua
4 October at 14:47	244 MW	33	N20
4 October at 14:29	281 MW	31	N
4 October at 13:51	225 MW	18	N21
4 October at 02:13	2 MW	3	N20
4 October at 01:54	1 MW	1	N
3 October at 15:08	173 MW	32	N20
3 October at 14:49	414 MW	58	N
3 October at 14:12	343 MW	43	N21
2 October at 14:29	10 MW	1	N21
1 October at 15:25	81 MW	9	N
1 October at 14:51	372 MW	45	N21
1 October at 14:04	223 MW	34	N20
1 October at 13:47	48 MW	7	N
30 September at 15:08	127 MW	8	N21
30 September at 14:23	179 MW	30	N20
30 September at 14:04	81 MW	12	N
30 September at 13:28	6 MW	1	N21
30 September at 02:35	10 MW	2	N21
29 September at 16:29	406 MW	24	Aqua
29 September at 14:42	973 MW	127	N20
29 September at 14:21	1,183 MW	139	N
29 September at 13:47	665 MW	62	N21
28 September at 15:01	11 MW	2	N20
28 September at 02:07	1 MW	1	N
28 September at 01:29	1 MW	1	N21
27 September at 16:52	390 MW	27	Aqua
27 September at 15:21	101 MW	9	N20
27 September at 14:59	413 MW	30	N
27 September at 14:23	336 MW	44	N21
27 September at 13:40	51 MW	5	N20
26 September at 16:14	308 MW	7	Aqua
26 September at 15:21	311 MW	49	N
26 September at 14:42	493 MW	61	N21
26 September at 13:57	410 MW	46	N20
26 September at 13:38	271 MW	21	N
26 September at 02:43	1 MW	1	N
26 September at 02:07	9 MW	3	N21
25 September at 17:14	199 MW	5	Aqua
25 September at 15:01	1,175 MW	115	N21
25 September at 14:19	1,238 MW	126	N20
25 September at 13:57	814 MW	105	N
24 September at 13:40	23 MW	4	N21

8 other fires near Bié (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