Fire near Pwani (TZ)

7.52°S, 38.85°E · first detected on 23 September at 12:17

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 23 September at 12:17 to 23 October at 00:57, that is at least 30 days: the clustering window stops there, and the fire or heat source may be older, through 3,052 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 64,564 ha.

Detected extent: 64,564 ha
Cumulative power: 25,775 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 186 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 3,052
Estimated emissions: 2.1 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 5 October 2026 to 22 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
23 October at 07:44	44 MW	2	Met12
23 October at 07:34	37 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 17:04	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:54	32 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 16:44	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:34	13 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:14	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 13:15	7 MW	2	N21
22 October at 01:16	1 MW	1	N
21 October at 13:34	11 MW	2	N21
21 October at 12:49	10 MW	1	N20
21 October at 12:30	14 MW	2	N
20 October at 17:53	19 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 17:43	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 17:04	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:34	44 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 16:24	63 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 16:14	72 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 16:05	75 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 16:04	57 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 15:34	12 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:24	30 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 15:04	136 MW	11	Aqua
20 October at 14:34	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:24	50 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 14:05	27 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 14:04	15 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:54	10 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:34	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:08	89 MW	14	N20
20 October at 12:49	74 MW	9	N
20 October at 12:11	50 MW	6	N21
20 October at 11:04	37 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 08:34	14 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 00:31	1 MW	1	N20
19 October at 13:28	292 MW	22	N20
19 October at 13:08	209 MW	34	N
19 October at 12:32	146 MW	20	N21
19 October at 00:52	1 MW	1	N20
18 October at 15:25	73 MW	4	Aqua
18 October at 13:47	35 MW	7	N20
18 October at 13:25	306 MW	39	N
18 October at 12:49	110 MW	17	N21
18 October at 12:06	30 MW	3	N20
16 October at 13:28	264 MW	33	N21
16 October at 12:43	444 MW	35	N20
16 October at 12:24	72 MW	11	N
15 October at 15:10	31 MW	3	Aqua
15 October at 13:02	62 MW	10	N20
15 October at 12:41	4 MW	1	N
14 October at 13:21	274 MW	45	N20
14 October at 13:02	201 MW	32	N
14 October at 12:24	170 MW	17	N21
13 October at 15:31	37 MW	3	Aqua
13 October at 13:40	61 MW	10	N20
12 October at 14:53	153 MW	8	Aqua
12 October at 13:02	284 MW	36	N21
12 October at 00:27	1 MW	1	N21
11 October at 13:57	39 MW	6	N
11 October at 13:21	356 MW	30	N21
11 October at 12:38	169 MW	17	N20
11 October at 12:17	16 MW	3	N
10 October at 15:16	56 MW	7	Aqua
10 October at 13:40	52 MW	5	N21
10 October at 12:56	177 MW	34	N20
10 October at 12:36	86 MW	10	N
9 October at 13:13	151 MW	24	N20
9 October at 12:56	78 MW	11	N
9 October at 12:17	26 MW	4	N21
8 October at 20:02	17 MW	2	Terra
8 October at 13:34	91 MW	10	N20
8 October at 13:15	251 MW	36	N
8 October at 12:38	193 MW	17	N21
8 October at 00:59	1 MW	1	N20
8 October at 00:37	1 MW	1	N
7 October at 15:01	44 MW	5	Aqua
7 October at 13:32	31 MW	2	N
7 October at 12:56	35 MW	9	N21
7 October at 00:57	0 MW	1	N
6 October at 13:51	5 MW	1	N
6 October at 13:16	110 MW	15	N21
6 October at 12:30	35 MW	5	N20
6 October at 08:05	13 MW	1	Terra
5 October at 15:23	52 MW	3	Aqua
5 October at 13:34	33 MW	5	N21
5 October at 12:49	49 MW	4	N20
5 October at 12:30	30 MW	7	N
4 October at 13:08	126 MW	23	N20
4 October at 12:49	40 MW	8	N
4 October at 12:11	41 MW	4	N21
3 October at 13:28	376 MW	43	N20
3 October at 13:08	499 MW	73	N
3 October at 12:32	468 MW	46	N21
3 October at 07:46	14 MW	1	Terra
2 October at 15:06	220 MW	10	Aqua
2 October at 13:47	82 MW	6	N20
2 October at 13:25	168 MW	12	N
2 October at 12:49	130 MW	12	N21
2 October at 12:06	28 MW	2	N20
1 October at 14:29	142 MW	2	Aqua
1 October at 13:47	86 MW	13	N
1 October at 13:08	154 MW	12	N21
1 October at 12:24	40 MW	8	N20
1 October at 01:29	1 MW	1	N20
1 October at 01:07	1 MW	2	N
1 October at 00:31	1 MW	1	N21
30 September at 15:29	255 MW	11	Aqua
30 September at 14:04	32 MW	3	N
30 September at 13:28	549 MW	58	N21
30 September at 12:43	321 MW	39	N20
30 September at 12:24	79 MW	14	N
30 September at 00:50	1 MW	1	N21
29 September at 14:51	259 MW	8	Aqua
29 September at 13:47	26 MW	4	N21
29 September at 13:02	393 MW	55	N20
29 September at 12:41	162 MW	22	N
29 September at 12:06	76 MW	10	N21
28 September at 13:19	127 MW	19	N20
28 September at 12:24	33 MW	3	N21
28 September at 00:44	1 MW	1	N20
28 September at 00:26	3 MW	2	N
27 September at 15:14	52 MW	6	Aqua
27 September at 13:19	56 MW	8	N
27 September at 12:43	118 MW	5	N21
26 September at 13:40	65 MW	6	N
26 September at 13:02	157 MW	18	N21
26 September at 12:17	33 MW	4	N20
25 September at 13:21	76 MW	3	N21
25 September at 12:38	19 MW	3	N20
25 September at 12:17	4 MW	1	N
25 September at 00:44	1 MW	1	N21
24 September at 14:59	242 MW	12	Aqua
24 September at 01:39	1 MW	1	N

8 other fires near Pwani (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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