Fire near Kongo central (CD)

4.83°S, 15.21°E · first detected on 6 September at 01:41

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 September at 01:41 to 19 October at 15:10, that is at least 44 days: the clustering window stops there, and the fire or heat source may be older, through 95,475 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,808,740 ha.

Detected extent: 1,808,740 ha
Cumulative power: 1,229,720 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 812 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 95,475
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 19 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.

The detected extent

Outline of the burned area near Kongo central (CD), drawn over satellite imagery — The outline is the union of the ground footprints of every satellite detection of this fire, from the first pass to the last. The background is the EOX cloudless Sentinel-2 mosaic, 2024 vintage: it shows the landscape BEFORE these fires, not the burn scar.

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
20 October at 15:04	150 MW	10	Met12
20 October at 14:54	28 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:50	965 MW	123	N20
20 October at 14:44	73 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 14:32	285 MW	48	N
20 October at 14:24	153 MW	6	Met12
20 October at 14:14	180 MW	9	Met12
20 October at 14:04	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:53	174 MW	21	N21
20 October at 13:44	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 12:24	32 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 12:04	11 MW	1	Met12
19 October at 17:44	96 MW	4	Met12
19 October at 17:35	142 MW	3	Met10
19 October at 17:34	106 MW	5	Met12
19 October at 17:24	331 MW	16	Met12
19 October at 17:20	70 MW	3	Met10
19 October at 17:14	215 MW	12	Met12
19 October at 17:05	180 MW	7	Met10
19 October at 17:04	189 MW	12	Met12
19 October at 16:54	412 MW	26	Met12
19 October at 16:50	138 MW	5	Met10
19 October at 16:44	312 MW	19	Met12
19 October at 16:35	184 MW	5	Met10
19 October at 16:34	437 MW	22	Met12
19 October at 16:24	665 MW	23	Met12
19 October at 16:14	408 MW	18	Met12
19 October at 16:04	583 MW	26	Met12
19 October at 15:54	304 MW	17	Met12
19 October at 15:44	293 MW	15	Met12
19 October at 15:34	189 MW	12	Met12
19 October at 15:24	21 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 15:10	16 MW	3	N20
19 October at 14:51	87 MW	13	N
19 October at 14:14	10 MW	1	N21
19 October at 02:33	1 MW	1	N20
18 October at 17:03	871 MW	44	Aqua
18 October at 15:27	90 MW	10	N20
18 October at 15:09	1,253 MW	77	N
18 October at 14:32	768 MW	99	N21
18 October at 13:47	74 MW	12	N20
16 October at 15:10	19 MW	2	N21
15 October at 16:48	115 MW	9	Aqua
15 October at 14:44	137 MW	18	N20
14 October at 15:04	3 MW	1	N20
14 October at 14:44	6 MW	2	N
13 October at 17:12	173 MW	7	Aqua
13 October at 15:23	547 MW	55	N20
13 October at 15:01	2,087 MW	213	N
13 October at 14:25	1,857 MW	217	N21
13 October at 13:42	494 MW	33	N20
13 October at 09:22	52 MW	5	Terra
12 October at 16:33	157 MW	9	Aqua
12 October at 15:23	224 MW	26	N
12 October at 14:44	481 MW	55	N21
11 October at 15:04	17 MW	3	N21
10 October at 16:56	262 MW	18	Aqua
10 October at 14:38	159 MW	19	N20
10 October at 14:17	41 MW	7	N
8 October at 21:40	12 MW	2	Terra
8 October at 17:18	169 MW	5	Aqua
8 October at 15:16	1,390 MW	165	N20
8 October at 14:55	3,052 MW	303	N
8 October at 14:19	2,535 MW	234	N21
8 October at 09:24	15 MW	1	Terra
8 October at 02:37	3 MW	3	N20
7 October at 16:40	52 MW	3	Aqua
7 October at 15:16	304 MW	26	N
7 October at 14:38	10 MW	3	N21
7 October at 13:53	9 MW	3	N20
7 October at 02:37	0 MW	1	N
7 October at 02:01	1 MW	1	N21
6 October at 15:33	21 MW	2	N
5 October at 17:01	744 MW	30	Aqua
5 October at 15:16	2,195 MW	78	N21
5 October at 14:32	1,377 MW	165	N20
5 October at 14:12	708 MW	75	N
5 October at 13:36	182 MW	15	N21
4 October at 16:25	674 MW	20	Aqua
4 October at 14:49	1,885 MW	153	N20
4 October at 14:32	595 MW	80	N
4 October at 13:53	1,082 MW	61	N21
4 October at 02:56	0 MW	1	N21
4 October at 02:11	3 MW	2	N20
4 October at 01:52	3 MW	2	N
3 October at 15:10	3,078 MW	305	N20
3 October at 14:51	2,855 MW	286	N
3 October at 14:14	1,704 MW	129	N21
3 October at 02:33	1 MW	1	N20
3 October at 02:11	1 MW	1	N
3 October at 01:35	1 MW	1	N21
2 October at 16:46	1,025 MW	85	Aqua
2 October at 15:27	475 MW	27	N20
2 October at 15:08	476 MW	37	N
2 October at 14:32	109 MW	20	N21
2 October at 13:47	7 MW	1	N20
1 October at 16:10	22 MW	1	Aqua
1 October at 15:27	10 MW	1	N
1 October at 14:52	77 MW	9	N21
1 October at 14:06	28 MW	3	N20
30 September at 17:09	1,479 MW	38	Aqua
30 September at 15:10	2,842 MW	213	N21
30 September at 14:25	1,208 MW	128	N20
30 September at 14:06	416 MW	36	N
29 September at 16:31	269 MW	15	Aqua
29 September at 14:44	35 MW	5	N20
29 September at 14:23	38 MW	1	N
29 September at 13:47	24 MW	2	N21
29 September at 02:50	5 MW	3	N21
29 September at 02:05	1 MW	1	N20
28 September at 15:04	1,114 MW	86	N20
28 September at 14:08	642 MW	45	N21
28 September at 09:26	131 MW	10	Terra
28 September at 03:09	17 MW	4	N21
28 September at 02:25	9 MW	4	N20
28 September at 02:05	6 MW	3	N
28 September at 01:29	6 MW	2	N21
27 September at 16:54	482 MW	21	Aqua
27 September at 15:23	46 MW	1	N20
27 September at 15:01	434 MW	13	N
27 September at 14:25	19 MW	4	N21
27 September at 13:42	6 MW	1	N20
26 September at 15:23	44 MW	7	N
26 September at 14:44	482 MW	22	N21
26 September at 14:00	30 MW	2	N20
26 September at 02:05	4 MW	1	N21
25 September at 17:14	780 MW	13	Aqua
25 September at 15:04	2,485 MW	161	N21
25 September at 14:19	1,301 MW	141	N20
25 September at 14:00	404 MW	68	N
25 September at 09:07	29 MW	1	Terra
25 September at 03:22	3 MW	2	N20
25 September at 03:02	14 MW	8	N
25 September at 02:26	102 MW	34	N21
25 September at 01:39	32 MW	10	N20
24 September at 16:39	2,162 MW	128	Aqua
24 September at 15:23	1,321 MW	55	N21
24 September at 14:38	2,818 MW	356	N20
24 September at 14:17	2,011 MW	216	N
24 September at 13:42	566 MW	55	N21
24 September at 03:20	14 MW	5	N
24 September at 02:43	8 MW	3	N21
24 September at 01:59	11 MW	4	N20
24 September at 01:39	2 MW	1	N
23 September at 21:45	95 MW	13	Terra
23 September at 14:55	4,602 MW	449	N20
23 September at 14:38	5,061 MW	550	N
23 September at 14:00	3,092 MW	231	N21
23 September at 09:26	23 MW	3	Terra
23 September at 03:04	12 MW	9	N21
23 September at 02:18	39 MW	19	N20
23 September at 01:59	38 MW	24	N
22 September at 16:59	3,363 MW	110	Aqua
22 September at 15:16	2,766 MW	345	N20
22 September at 14:55	5,105 MW	501	N
22 September at 14:19	3,451 MW	393	N21
22 September at 02:37	6 MW	5	N20
22 September at 02:18	4 MW	3	N
22 September at 01:41	16 MW	10	N21
21 September at 22:04	43 MW	3	Terra
21 September at 16:22	2,701 MW	78	Aqua
21 September at 15:15	3,823 MW	285	N
21 September at 14:38	2,786 MW	321	N21
21 September at 13:53	1,662 MW	123	N20
21 September at 09:46	131 MW	8	Terra
21 September at 02:56	24 MW	10	N20
21 September at 02:35	24 MW	19	N
21 September at 02:01	41 MW	18	N21
20 September at 21:27	185 MW	6	Terra
20 September at 17:22	87 MW	2	Aqua
20 September at 15:33	308 MW	19	N

8 other fires near Kongo central (CD)

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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