Fire near Vakaga (CF)

10.18°N, 22.33°E · first detected on 15 October at 13:08

What the satellites measured

This fire was tracked from 15 October at 13:08 to 22 October at 16:25, that is 7 days, through 134 satellite detections. The detected extent reaches 1,926 ha.

Detected extent: 1,926 ha
Cumulative power: 1,286 MW
Peak power, one pixel: 59 MW
VIIRS and MODIS detections: 134
Estimated emissions: 1.0 kt of carbon; Carbon burnt in the 0.1 degree cells (about 10 km) around the fire, from 15 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.

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 10 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 16:35	13 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:25	11 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 16:25	36 MW	2	Aqua
22 October at 16:15	26 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 16:05	50 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 15:55	15 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 15:45	35 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:25	22 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 15:22	35 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 15:15	12 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 14:55	42 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 14:45	145 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 14:35	37 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 14:25	109 MW	7	Met12
22 October at 14:19	171 MW	28	N20
22 October at 14:15	61 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 14:05	50 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 13:57	374 MW	35	N
22 October at 13:55	86 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 13:45	127 MW	5	Met12
22 October at 13:37	52 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:35	115 MW	7	Met12
22 October at 13:25	87 MW	3	Met12
22 October at 13:22	273 MW	5	Met9
22 October at 13:19	318 MW	22	N21
22 October at 13:15	24 MW	2	Met12
22 October at 13:07	50 MW	1	Met9
22 October at 13:05	137 MW	6	Met12
22 October at 12:55	55 MW	4	Met12
22 October at 12:52	55 MW	1	Met10
22 October at 12:52	139 MW	2	Met9
22 October at 12:45	20 MW	1	Met12
22 October at 12:37	81 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 16:35	11 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 16:23	32 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 16:15	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 16:07	53 MW	1	Met9
21 October at 16:05	18 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 15:52	155 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 15:46	146 MW	4	Aqua
21 October at 15:45	106 MW	5	Met12
21 October at 15:37	263 MW	5	Met9
21 October at 15:37	38 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 15:35	64 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 15:25	46 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 15:22	226 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 15:22	38 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 15:15	48 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 15:07	206 MW	2	Met10
21 October at 15:07	474 MW	6	Met9
21 October at 15:05	161 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 14:55	185 MW	6	Met12
21 October at 14:52	53 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 14:52	133 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 14:45	46 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:37	54 MW	1	Met10
21 October at 14:37	303 MW	6	Met9
21 October at 14:36	111 MW	23	N20
21 October at 14:35	69 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 14:25	34 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 14:22	184 MW	4	Met9
21 October at 14:17	337 MW	34	N
21 October at 14:15	106 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 14:07	93 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 14:05	72 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 13:55	48 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 13:52	92 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 13:45	49 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:40	246 MW	28	N21
21 October at 13:37	97 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 13:35	33 MW	2	Met12
21 October at 13:25	267 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 13:22	175 MW	3	Met9
21 October at 13:15	294 MW	8	Met12
21 October at 13:07	523 MW	6	Met9
21 October at 13:05	254 MW	7	Met12
21 October at 12:55	388 MW	8	Met12
21 October at 12:52	736 MW	6	Met9
21 October at 12:45	160 MW	4	Met12
21 October at 12:37	87 MW	2	Met9
21 October at 12:35	23 MW	1	Met12
21 October at 12:25	38 MW	3	Met12
21 October at 12:15	30 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 16:25	10 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 16:05	13 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 15:35	50 MW	3	Met12
20 October at 15:25	118 MW	4	Met12
20 October at 13:57	19 MW	1	N21
20 October at 13:05	21 MW	1	Met12
20 October at 12:55	34 MW	2	Met12
20 October at 12:45	28 MW	2	Met12
19 October at 16:10	7 MW	1	Aqua
19 October at 14:17	52 MW	5	N21
19 October at 13:34	44 MW	8	N20
19 October at 13:13	24 MW	3	N
17 October at 14:10	7 MW	1	N20
17 October at 13:51	4 MW	1	N
17 October at 13:13	5 MW	1	N21
16 October at 14:10	2 MW	1	N
16 October at 13:34	11 MW	2	N21
15 October at 13:51	9 MW	2	N21
15 October at 13:08	5 MW	1	N20

5 other fires near Vakaga (CF)

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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