Fire near Geita (TZ)

4.13°S, 31.41°E · first detected on 23 September at 12:56

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 23 September at 12:56 to 21 October at 15:42, that is 28 days, through 1,178 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 22,084 ha.

Detected extent: 22,084 ha
Cumulative power: 13,369 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 149 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 1,178
Estimated emissions: 7.2 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).

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
21 October at 18:14	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:54	22 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 17:51	20 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:44	13 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:34	16 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:24	146 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 17:21	89 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 17:20	95 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 17:14	81 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:06	28 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 17:05	117 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 17:04	51 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 16:54	99 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:51	141 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 16:50	120 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 16:44	13 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 16:14	10 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:51	50 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 15:42	376 MW	8	Aqua
21 October at 15:36	397 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 15:34	211 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:24	57 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 15:21	429 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 15:14	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:06	38 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 14:51	72 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 14:44	36 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:34	56 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:12	133 MW	18	N
21 October at 14:04	25 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:54	208 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 13:44	200 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 13:34	181 MW	10	N21
21 October at 13:34	46 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:24	134 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:14	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 13:04	42 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:54	25 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:51	49 MW	7	N20
21 October at 12:04	161 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 11:44	30 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:34	23 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:24	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:20	611 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 11:20	103 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 11:05	126 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 10:50	312 MW	3	Met10
21 October at 10:35	445 MW	4	Met10
21 October at 10:04	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:53	7 MW	1	N21
20 October at 13:10	102 MW	3	N20
20 October at 12:54	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 12:49	42 MW	3	N
20 October at 12:44	35 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 11:54	12 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 13:28	71 MW	6	N20
19 October at 13:10	44 MW	5	N
19 October at 12:32	16 MW	1	N21
18 October at 13:49	42 MW	1	N20
18 October at 13:28	17 MW	3	N
18 October at 12:51	47 MW	4	N21
16 October at 20:19	10 MW	1	Terra
16 October at 15:48	38 MW	2	Aqua
16 October at 13:28	4 MW	1	N21
15 October at 13:49	404 MW	36	N21
15 October at 13:04	89 MW	10	N20
15 October at 01:09	1 MW	1	N21
14 October at 20:38	5 MW	1	Terra
14 October at 16:12	32 MW	1	Aqua
14 October at 14:06	448 MW	34	N21
14 October at 13:21	536 MW	36	N20
14 October at 13:02	406 MW	38	N
14 October at 08:22	16 MW	1	Terra
14 October at 03:54	26 MW	2	Aqua
14 October at 02:03	20 MW	8	N
14 October at 01:29	43 MW	12	N21
14 October at 00:44	27 MW	11	N20
13 October at 20:00	612 MW	8	Terra
13 October at 15:33	408 MW	12	Aqua
13 October at 13:42	282 MW	27	N20
13 October at 03:17	12 MW	1	Aqua
12 October at 21:00	65 MW	3	Terra
12 October at 13:04	101 MW	8	N21
12 October at 08:42	53 MW	4	Terra
12 October at 02:05	11 MW	7	N21
12 October at 01:22	27 MW	17	N20
12 October at 01:01	19 MW	15	N
12 October at 00:27	12 MW	6	N21
11 October at 20:19	54 MW	3	Terra
11 October at 15:55	62 MW	2	Aqua
11 October at 14:19	78 MW	6	N20
11 October at 14:00	234 MW	8	N
11 October at 13:21	106 MW	10	N21
11 October at 12:38	22 MW	3	N20
11 October at 01:20	3 MW	1	N
11 October at 00:44	4 MW	3	N21
10 October at 14:17	36 MW	7	N
10 October at 13:42	97 MW	12	N21
10 October at 12:58	20 MW	2	N20
10 October at 02:01	1 MW	1	N20
9 October at 14:00	11 MW	2	N21
9 October at 13:15	114 MW	8	N20
9 October at 12:56	16 MW	2	N
8 October at 15:40	16 MW	2	Aqua
8 October at 13:34	16 MW	4	N20
7 October at 08:44	70 MW	3	Terra
6 October at 14:12	20 MW	3	N20
6 October at 13:51	101 MW	6	N
6 October at 13:17	154 MW	10	N21
6 October at 01:33	5 MW	4	N20
6 October at 01:14	4 MW	5	N
6 October at 00:37	1 MW	1	N21
5 October at 15:23	68 MW	2	Aqua
5 October at 14:12	241 MW	35	N
5 October at 13:35	360 MW	17	N21
5 October at 12:50	131 MW	16	N20
5 October at 01:52	13 MW	8	N20
5 October at 01:33	15 MW	11	N
5 October at 00:57	9 MW	4	N21
4 October at 20:43	209 MW	9	Terra
4 October at 13:53	194 MW	16	N21
4 October at 13:10	146 MW	12	N20
4 October at 12:49	27 MW	2	N
4 October at 01:16	2 MW	2	N21
4 October at 00:31	1 MW	1	N20
3 October at 15:46	28 MW	3	Aqua
3 October at 14:12	109 MW	4	N21
3 October at 13:28	203 MW	18	N20
3 October at 13:10	67 MW	9	N
3 October at 12:32	75 MW	5	N21
3 October at 02:09	0 MW	1	N
3 October at 01:33	7 MW	3	N21
2 October at 13:49	147 MW	22	N20
2 October at 13:28	261 MW	25	N
2 October at 12:51	168 MW	12	N21
1 October at 14:06	8 MW	2	N20
1 October at 13:47	11 MW	2	N
1 October at 13:10	10 MW	1	N21
30 September at 15:31	169 MW	11	Aqua
30 September at 14:06	139 MW	12	N
30 September at 13:28	124 MW	15	N21
30 September at 12:43	54 MW	8	N20
30 September at 01:46	2 MW	1	N20
30 September at 01:26	2 MW	1	N
30 September at 00:50	5 MW	3	N21
29 September at 20:43	51 MW	5	Terra
29 September at 14:23	33 MW	3	N
29 September at 13:04	56 MW	6	N20
29 September at 12:43	74 MW	7	N
28 September at 15:55	70 MW	4	Aqua
28 September at 14:06	89 MW	9	N21
28 September at 13:21	116 MW	10	N20
27 September at 15:14	137 MW	2	Aqua
27 September at 13:40	297 MW	34	N20
27 September at 13:21	278 MW	38	N
27 September at 12:43	224 MW	33	N21
26 September at 14:00	46 MW	9	N20
26 September at 13:40	109 MW	17	N
26 September at 13:04	23 MW	1	N21
25 September at 14:00	32 MW	4	N
25 September at 13:21	56 MW	9	N21
25 September at 12:38	7 MW	1	N20
25 September at 01:39	2 MW	1	N20
25 September at 01:20	2 MW	1	N
24 September at 14:17	195 MW	20	N
24 September at 13:42	248 MW	27	N21
24 September at 12:58	273 MW	26	N20
24 September at 01:58	1 MW	2	N20
24 September at 01:39	3 MW	2	N
24 September at 01:01	3 MW	1	N21
23 September at 15:59	76 MW	2	Aqua
23 September at 14:00	529 MW	47	N21
23 September at 13:15	1,014 MW	42	N20
23 September at 12:56	259 MW	36	N

5 other fires near Geita (TZ)

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.

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