Chembe fire, 31 August 2016 Chembe, Milengi
The fire started on 31 August 2016 in Chembe, Zambia, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,427 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 442th largest in Luapula since 2016 (of 533 with a page). Number 195 in Zambia in 2016, of 246.
- Burnt area
- 3,427ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 3days
- 31 Aug 2016 – 2 Sept 2016
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- districts
- Started on
- 31 Aug
- 2016
- Heat detections
- 94
- in a single hotspot: 155 MW
- Danger at start
- 41
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 2.6GW
- sum of detected power
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
Chembe where it started3,094 ha reached on 31 Aug1.4 %
-
356 ha reached on 1 Sept0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Aug | 28.8 °C | 24 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 1 Sept | 28.2 °C | 27 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 2 Sept | 28.1 °C | 26 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 3 Sept after | 28.7 °C | 23 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 4 Sept after | 29.9 °C | 23 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 5 Sept after | 30.6 °C | 23 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 6 Sept after | 30.8 °C | 20 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 7 Sept after | 31.3 °C | 20 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 8 Sept after | 32.0 °C | 24 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 9 Sept after | 32.8 °C | 19 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 10 Sept after | 32.8 °C | 18 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 11 Sept after | 32.1 °C | 19 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 12 Sept after | 31.5 °C | 21 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
Detections table · 94Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 41,279 haMilengi13 August 2021 · 25 days · 17 km away
- 29,893 haMilengi17 August 2019 · 24 days · 22 km away
- 25,575 haMilengi29 August 2020 · 11 days · 25 km away
- 20,282 haChembeJuly 2018 · 17 days · 25 km away
- 167,326 haMilengi24 July 2026 · 41 days · 29 km away
- 64,353 haChembe18 July 2026 · 34 days · 29 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Chembe fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 31 August 2016 and 2 September 2016: 3 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,427 hectares (34.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Chembe (3,094 ha, 1.4 %); Milengi (356 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 28.8 °C, humidity dropped to 24 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 43, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Zambia (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.
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
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 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)). 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.