Fire near Kayes (ML)

14.43°N, 11.88°W · first detected on 7 October at 15:23

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 7 October at 15:23 to 22 October at 18:03, that is 15 days, through 2,855 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 47,054 ha.

Detected extent: 47,054 ha
Cumulative power: 28,426 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 191 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 2,855
Estimated emissions: 11.7 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 7 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.

Before, after: the burn scar seen from space

Sentinel-2 satellite image of the same area near Kayes (ML) during the fire, on 17 October 2026

Sentinel-2 satellite image of the area near Kayes (ML) before the fire, on 25 August 2026

Before · 25 August 2026During · 17 October 2026

Sentinel-2, 10 m resolution. No sufficiently clear pass has followed the fire going out yet: the second image was taken DURING the fire, so the burn scar had not finished spreading. It will be replaced automatically at the first clear sky. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel-2 data (2026).

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 18 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 21:56	78 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 20:36	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 20:26	10 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 20:16	40 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 20:08	24 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 20:06	32 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 19:56	31 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 19:53	40 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 19:46	41 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 19:38	63 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 19:36	62 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 19:26	98 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 19:23	141 MW	5	Met10
22 October at 19:16	128 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 19:08	24 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 19:06	59 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 18:56	70 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 18:53	22 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 18:46	48 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 18:38	110 MW	3	Met10
22 October at 18:36	62 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 18:16	56 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 18:06	33 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 18:03	130 MW	8	Aqua
22 October at 17:56	92 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 17:53	42 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:46	97 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 17:38	48 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 17:36	57 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 17:26	77 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 17:23	84 MW	2	Met10
22 October at 17:16	57 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 16:46	111 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 16:44	164 MW	13	N21
22 October at 16:36	39 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:26	16 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:16	22 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:06	40 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:59	118 MW	20	N20
22 October at 15:56	52 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 15:40	53 MW	14	N
22 October at 15:36	38 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 15:26	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 18:53	25 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 18:46	27 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 18:38	150 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 18:36	215 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 18:26	419 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 18:06	19 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:46	49 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 17:38	34 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 17:36	101 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 17:26	14 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 17:16	78 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 17:06	72 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 16:56	192 MW	8	Met12
21 October at 16:46	58 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 16:20	71 MW	10	N20
21 October at 14:16	15 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 14:06	18 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 20:06	116 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 19:56	351 MW	5	Met12
19 October at 19:46	368 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 19:36	302 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 19:26	54 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 19:16	245 MW	9	Met12
19 October at 19:08	95 MW	3	Met10
19 October at 19:06	136 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 18:56	150 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 18:53	177 MW	2	Met10
19 October at 18:46	47 MW	3	Met12
19 October at 18:36	154 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 18:26	263 MW	6	Met12
19 October at 18:23	376 MW	3	Met10
19 October at 18:16	511 MW	11	Met12
19 October at 18:10	193 MW	1	G19
19 October at 18:08	99 MW	1	Met10
19 October at 18:06	318 MW	8	Met12
19 October at 17:56	175 MW	8	Met12
19 October at 17:46	78 MW	5	Met12
19 October at 17:36	94 MW	4	Met12
19 October at 17:26	96 MW	6	Met12
19 October at 17:06	14 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 16:57	72 MW	6	N20
19 October at 16:56	105 MW	4	Met12
19 October at 16:37	271 MW	40	N
19 October at 16:36	26 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 16:26	35 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 16:16	64 MW	3	Met12
19 October at 16:06	121 MW	3	Met12
19 October at 15:59	232 MW	34	N21
19 October at 15:46	486 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 15:26	99 MW	3	Met12
19 October at 15:16	145 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 15:16	40 MW	4	N20
19 October at 14:56	281 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 14:36	16 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 14:26	177 MW	7	Met12
19 October at 14:16	70 MW	4	Met12
19 October at 13:06	75 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 12:56	14 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 12:06	16 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 04:09	23 MW	7	N20
19 October at 03:47	3 MW	1	N
18 October at 23:21	201 MW	7	Terra
18 October at 18:50	191 MW	6	Aqua
18 October at 16:57	308 MW	39	N
18 October at 16:20	614 MW	55	N21
18 October at 15:35	606 MW	57	N20
18 October at 04:26	3 MW	1	N20
17 October at 16:37	3,050 MW	231	N21
17 October at 15:53	2,044 MW	112	N20
17 October at 15:33	458 MW	62	N
16 October at 16:57	1,019 MW	45	N21
16 October at 16:12	791 MW	112	N20
16 October at 15:53	642 MW	76	N
16 October at 15:16	699 MW	42	N21
16 October at 11:13	13 MW	1	Terra
16 October at 04:09	2 MW	1	N21
15 October at 18:35	230 MW	19	Aqua
15 October at 16:31	1,052 MW	135	N20
15 October at 16:12	1,150 MW	140	N
15 October at 15:33	843 MW	76	N21
15 October at 12:13	63 MW	1	Terra
15 October at 04:26	1 MW	1	N21
15 October at 03:41	1 MW	1	N20
14 October at 16:50	956 MW	112	N20
14 October at 16:29	1,393 MW	146	N
14 October at 15:53	1,294 MW	139	N21
14 October at 11:34	5 MW	1	Terra
13 October at 23:23	13 MW	2	Terra
13 October at 18:54	363 MW	6	Aqua
13 October at 16:50	704 MW	65	N
13 October at 16:12	771 MW	111	N21
13 October at 15:27	383 MW	47	N20
12 October at 18:18	370 MW	22	Aqua
12 October at 17:07	33 MW	4	N
12 October at 16:31	1,036 MW	60	N21
11 October at 15:46	15 MW	3	N
8 October at 16:05	10 MW	1	N21
7 October at 18:24	66 MW	5	Aqua
7 October at 16:25	198 MW	18	N21
7 October at 15:42	163 MW	12	N20
7 October at 15:23	28 MW	4	N

8 other fires near Kayes (ML)

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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