Fire near Tete (MZ)

16.75°S, 33.01°E · first detected on 6 October at 13:13

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 6 October at 13:13 to 21 October at 14:08, that is 15 days, through 1,238 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 18,067 ha.

Detected extent: 18,067 ha
Cumulative power: 12,626 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 100 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 1,238
Estimated emissions: 12.7 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 6 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.

Before, after: the burn scar seen from space

Sentinel-2 satellite image of the same area near Tete (MZ) after the fire, on 21 October 2026

Sentinel-2 satellite image of the area near Tete (MZ) before the fire, on 14 September 2026

Before · 14 September 2026After · 21 October 2026

Sentinel-2, 10 m resolution. The dates are those of the least cloudy passes available: “after” is not the day after the fire went out, it is the first clear sky that followed. 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 14:04	52 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:49	102 MW	12	N
22 October at 13:19	61 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:13	102 MW	8	N21
22 October at 13:12	14 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 13:04	74 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 13:04	73 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:02	58 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:22	20 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 12:12	44 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 12:04	81 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 12:02	116 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 11:52	50 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 11:42	15 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 11:34	264 MW	3	Met9
22 October at 11:32	92 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 11:22	30 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 01:18	1 MW	2	N
22 October at 00:40	4 MW	4	N21
21 October at 14:27	6 MW	1	N20
21 October at 14:08	85 MW	10	N
21 October at 13:34	35 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 13:32	107 MW	7	N21
21 October at 12:47	63 MW	14	N20
21 October at 11:52	33 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:49	129 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 11:42	33 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 11:34	89 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 11:34	87 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 11:32	117 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 11:22	96 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 11:19	80 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 11:19	80 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 00:59	3 MW	3	N21
20 October at 16:32	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:02	11 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:49	88 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 14:42	19 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 14:27	65 MW	11	N
20 October at 13:49	295 MW	26	N21
20 October at 13:42	15 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 13:34	87 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 13:32	89 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 13:22	154 MW	7	Met12
20 October at 13:19	176 MW	3	Met9
20 October at 13:12	130 MW	6	Met12
20 October at 13:06	235 MW	18	N20
20 October at 13:04	66 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 13:04	113 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 13:02	110 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 12:52	77 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 12:49	108 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 12:45	131 MW	13	N
20 October at 12:42	71 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 12:32	66 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 12:22	94 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 12:19	62 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 12:19	120 MW	2	Met9
20 October at 12:12	101 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 12:04	102 MW	1	Met10
20 October at 12:04	90 MW	1	Met9
20 October at 12:02	27 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 01:56	9 MW	5	N
20 October at 01:18	7 MW	3	N21
20 October at 00:33	10 MW	2	N20
19 October at 20:34	13 MW	2	Terra
19 October at 16:01	52 MW	4	Aqua
19 October at 14:10	139 MW	13	N21
19 October at 13:25	141 MW	12	N20
19 October at 13:06	254 MW	18	N
19 October at 12:28	175 MW	11	N21
19 October at 01:37	13 MW	7	N21
19 October at 00:54	8 MW	5	N20
18 October at 15:25	23 MW	1	Aqua
18 October at 13:45	271 MW	22	N20
18 October at 13:23	241 MW	25	N
18 October at 12:47	264 MW	29	N21
18 October at 01:12	1 MW	1	N20
18 October at 00:16	2 MW	1	N21
17 October at 14:02	53 MW	6	N20
17 October at 13:45	196 MW	28	N
17 October at 13:06	244 MW	18	N21
16 October at 14:02	72 MW	8	N
16 October at 13:25	39 MW	5	N21
16 October at 12:43	13 MW	2	N20
16 October at 01:50	4 MW	4	N20
16 October at 01:29	37 MW	6	N
16 October at 00:54	41 MW	9	N21
15 October at 14:19	82 MW	8	N
15 October at 13:45	178 MW	9	N21
15 October at 13:00	244 MW	13	N20
15 October at 12:41	49 MW	2	N
15 October at 01:50	1 MW	1	N
15 October at 01:12	2 MW	1	N21
15 October at 00:27	1 MW	1	N20
14 October at 14:02	169 MW	17	N21
14 October at 13:19	306 MW	21	N20
14 October at 13:00	371 MW	22	N
14 October at 01:31	3 MW	2	N21
14 October at 00:48	2 MW	2	N20
13 October at 15:29	68 MW	3	Aqua
13 October at 13:38	227 MW	15	N20
12 October at 13:00	94 MW	13	N21
12 October at 01:26	1 MW	1	N20
12 October at 00:29	1 MW	1	N21
11 October at 15:53	44 MW	3	Aqua
11 October at 14:17	169 MW	24	N20
11 October at 13:55	208 MW	24	N
11 October at 13:19	123 MW	8	N21
11 October at 12:34	70 MW	9	N20
11 October at 01:44	2 MW	2	N20
11 October at 01:24	1 MW	1	N
11 October at 00:48	3 MW	2	N21
10 October at 15:14	17 MW	1	Aqua
10 October at 14:14	272 MW	31	N
10 October at 13:38	232 MW	19	N21
10 October at 12:53	371 MW	35	N20
9 October at 13:55	48 MW	4	N21
9 October at 13:10	26 MW	3	N20
9 October at 12:51	8 MW	2	N
9 October at 01:26	1 MW	1	N21
9 October at 00:40	1 MW	1	N20
9 October at 00:22	2 MW	2	N
8 October at 15:38	15 MW	2	Aqua
8 October at 14:17	134 MW	11	N21
8 October at 13:32	165 MW	21	N20
8 October at 13:13	147 MW	16	N
8 October at 12:34	87 MW	5	N21
7 October at 14:59	68 MW	1	Aqua
7 October at 13:49	152 MW	24	N20
7 October at 13:30	136 MW	20	N
7 October at 12:53	260 MW	16	N21
6 October at 13:49	10 MW	2	N
6 October at 13:13	21 MW	3	N21

8 other fires near Tete (MZ)

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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