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Berau fire, July 2026 Berau

Out · last detection 2 Oct 2026, 18:28 UTC

The fire started on 26 July 2026 in Berau, Indonesia, and satellites saw it burning for 68 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 21,982 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 3th largest in East Kalimantan since 2016 (of 97 with a page). Number 49 in Indonesia in 2026, of 988.

Burnt area
21,982ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
68days
26 Jul 2026 – 1 Oct 2026
Municipalities hit
1
regencies
Started on
26 Jul
2026
Heat detections
2,060
in a single hotspot: 148 MW
Danger at start
1
Very low · FWI index
Energy released
15.2GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

2 Oct 2026
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 26 Jul1 Oct

How it evolved, day by day

2628303112456789101112131415171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415171819202122232425262728293012

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

36°high
39km/h · peak gust
35%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.8 mm on 2 Oct.

This area had burned before

58% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 938 ha in 2016, 469 ha in 2017, 702 ha in 2018, 5,317 ha in 2019, 423 ha in 2021, 11,011 ha in 2023, 3,967 ha in 2024, 2,370 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 12,778 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Berau where it started
    22,127 ha reached on 26 Jul
    1.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
19 Jul 33.7 °C 49 % 10 km/h 3.4 mm Very low 1
20 Jul 32.0 °C 55 % 7 km/h 12.6 mm Very low 0
21 Jul 28.0 °C 73 % 10 km/h 8.0 mm Very low 0
22 Jul 26.8 °C 87 % 9 km/h 18.6 mm Very low 0
23 Jul 30.2 °C 60 % 16 km/h 2.7 mm Very low 0
24 Jul 32.0 °C 53 % 14 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 1
25 Jul 31.8 °C 52 % 14 km/h 0.4 mm Very low 4
26 Jul 32.5 °C 52 % 10 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 1
27 Jul 30.8 °C 61 % 10 km/h 11.7 mm Very low 0
28 Jul 31.4 °C 62 % 22 km/h 0.6 mm Very low 1
29 Jul 30.4 °C 68 % 22 km/h 4.8 mm Very low 0
30 Jul 31.4 °C 64 % 21 km/h 2.2 mm Very low 0
31 Jul 32.0 °C 62 % 20 km/h 1.1 mm Very low 1
1 Aug 32.5 °C 59 % 26 km/h 2.1 mm Very low 1
2 Aug 32.9 °C 56 % 27 km/h 0.1 mm Very low 4
3 Aug 33.2 °C 54 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
4 Aug 34.2 °C 50 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm Low 8
5 Aug 33.3 °C 54 % 28 km/h 1.4 mm Very low 4
6 Aug 34.3 °C 49 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 9
7 Aug 35.1 °C 41 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
8 Aug 33.9 °C 48 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
9 Aug 35.0 °C 43 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 14
10 Aug 36.0 °C 38 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
11 Aug 36.0 °C 40 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
12 Aug 35.7 °C 43 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
13 Aug 35.3 °C 48 % 28 km/h 1.0 mm Moderate 12
14 Aug 36.0 °C 42 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
15 Aug 35.8 °C 43 % 28 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 16
16 Aug 34.2 °C 47 % 33 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 17
17 Aug 34.7 °C 45 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
18 Aug 35.8 °C 43 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
19 Aug 35.3 °C 39 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
20 Aug 35.6 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
21 Aug 33.8 °C 51 % 28 km/h 1.8 mm Low 8
22 Aug 35.9 °C 36 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
23 Aug 36.5 °C 36 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
24 Aug 35.7 °C 44 % 31 km/h 2.1 mm Moderate 12
25 Aug 35.6 °C 42 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
26 Aug 35.4 °C 45 % 26 km/h 2.0 mm Low 11
27 Aug 34.3 °C 49 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
28 Aug 34.9 °C 40 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
29 Aug 35.5 °C 37 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
30 Aug 35.5 °C 42 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
31 Aug 34.8 °C 48 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm High 25
1 Sept 35.7 °C 42 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
2 Sept 35.2 °C 42 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Sept 34.3 °C 49 % 23 km/h 0.5 mm High 22
4 Sept 34.5 °C 49 % 25 km/h 0.4 mm High 23
5 Sept 34.6 °C 47 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm High 23
6 Sept 34.8 °C 46 % 31 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 21
7 Sept 34.3 °C 50 % 28 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 21
8 Sept 35.2 °C 45 % 26 km/h 0.5 mm High 22
9 Sept 34.5 °C 45 % 32 km/h 0.3 mm High 23
10 Sept 34.5 °C 48 % 35 km/h 1.4 mm Moderate 15
11 Sept 32.0 °C 63 % 27 km/h 2.7 mm Low 6
12 Sept 31.9 °C 60 % 24 km/h 3.4 mm Very low 4
13 Sept 33.8 °C 51 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
14 Sept 35.6 °C 35 % 28 km/h 0.2 mm High 23
15 Sept 35.0 °C 47 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm High 24
16 Sept 29.5 °C 68 % 27 km/h 3.8 mm Very low 3
17 Sept 34.8 °C 43 % 39 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 14
18 Sept 35.0 °C 39 % 28 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 20
19 Sept 33.8 °C 54 % 35 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 5
20 Sept 32.8 °C 56 % 28 km/h 3.1 mm Very low 3
21 Sept 32.4 °C 60 % 25 km/h 0.6 mm Low 7
22 Sept 33.2 °C 56 % 30 km/h 3.0 mm Very low 4
23 Sept 30.5 °C 71 % 24 km/h 9.9 mm Very low 0
24 Sept 31.6 °C 64 % 24 km/h 1.2 mm Very low 1
25 Sept 33.1 °C 59 % 24 km/h 2.4 mm Very low 2
26 Sept 32.4 °C 61 % 24 km/h 1.0 mm Very low 4
27 Sept 33.2 °C 56 % 24 km/h 0.9 mm Low 6
28 Sept 32.3 °C 62 % 22 km/h 6.2 mm Very low 1
29 Sept 32.1 °C 62 % 25 km/h 1.8 mm Very low 1
30 Sept 34.0 °C 51 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
1 Oct 34.0 °C 53 % 27 km/h 0.7 mm Low 7
2 Oct after 33.0 °C 59 % 32 km/h 4.8 mm Very low 1

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 19 Jul 2026
After · 8 Oct 2026

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 3 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 590 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 182: 12 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak590 µg/m³
Days over the guideline59 days
PM10600 µg/m³
Optical depth3.48
1718192021222324252627282930311234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293012
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 2,060Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Indonesia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Berau fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 26 July 2026 to 1 October 2026 (68 days). The perimeter dates it from 26 July 2026 to 24 September 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 21,982 hectares (219.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Berau (22,127 ha, 1.0 %).
Is the Berau fire still active?
No fire detections since 2 Oct 2026, 18:28 UTC. A lack of detections is not an official extinction.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.5 °C, humidity dropped to 35 % and gusts hit 39 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 26, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Indonesia (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 112

Satellite cross-check

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
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We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 112.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.