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Chipili fire, July 2026 Chipili, Mansa, Lupososhi

Out · last detection 26 Sept 2026, 11:38 UTC

The fire started on 30 July 2026 in Chipili, Zambia, and satellites saw it burning for 59 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 614,688 hectares from heat detections, spread across 7 municipalities.

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 largest fire in Luapula since 2016 (of 533 with a page). The largest in Zambia in 2026, of 604.

Burnt area
614,688ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
59days
30 Jul 2026 – 26 Sept 2026
Municipalities hit
7
districts
Started on
30 Jul
2026
Heat detections
18,406
in a single hotspot: 294 MW
Danger at start
33
High · FWI index
Energy released
179.0GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

26 Sept 2026
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 30 Jul26 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

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

The weather it burned in

35°high
39km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.2 mm on 28 Sept.

This area had burned before

98% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 330,416 ha in 2016, 353,038 ha in 2017, 239,933 ha in 2018, 335,166 ha in 2019, 305,605 ha in 2020, 341,331 ha in 2021, 294,785 ha in 2022, 263,728 ha in 2023, 322,114 ha in 2024, 379,495 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 604,110 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

  1. Chipili where it started
    229,118 ha reached on 30 Jul
    53 %
  2. Mansa
    210,003 ha reached on 30 Jul
    27 %
  3. Lupososhi
    84,802 ha reached on 30 Jul
    20 %
  4. Kawambwa
    50,611 ha reached on 30 Jul
    6.3 %
  5. Mwense
    24,652 ha reached on 30 Jul
    10 %
  6. Chifunabuli
    11,218 ha reached on 30 Jul
    3.6 %
  7. Mwansabombwe
    8,133 ha reached on 30 Jul
    6.9 %

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)
30 Jul 28.6 °C 34 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
31 Jul 28.7 °C 25 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
1 Aug 26.8 °C 24 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
2 Aug 26.8 °C 30 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
3 Aug 26.9 °C 35 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
4 Aug 27.6 °C 35 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
5 Aug 28.2 °C 34 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
6 Aug 28.7 °C 38 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
7 Aug 29.5 °C 37 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
8 Aug 30.0 °C 37 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
9 Aug 29.9 °C 35 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
10 Aug 31.8 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
11 Aug 31.7 °C 29 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
12 Aug 31.9 °C 20 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
13 Aug 29.5 °C 33 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
14 Aug 26.9 °C 42 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
15 Aug 27.5 °C 31 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
16 Aug 27.7 °C 30 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
17 Aug 28.6 °C 26 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
18 Aug 29.2 °C 23 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
19 Aug 29.1 °C 21 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
20 Aug 29.1 °C 25 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
21 Aug 29.6 °C 27 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
22 Aug 30.6 °C 24 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
23 Aug 31.0 °C 29 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
24 Aug 31.2 °C 32 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Aug 30.5 °C 35 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
26 Aug 31.8 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
27 Aug 31.8 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
28 Aug 30.2 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
29 Aug 30.5 °C 32 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
30 Aug 31.4 °C 28 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
31 Aug 32.3 °C 27 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
1 Sept 31.9 °C 29 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
2 Sept 32.5 °C 28 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
3 Sept 32.7 °C 28 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
4 Sept 32.8 °C 33 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
5 Sept 31.1 °C 38 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
6 Sept 31.9 °C 35 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Sept 33.1 °C 28 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
8 Sept 31.3 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
9 Sept 30.4 °C 32 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
10 Sept 30.8 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
11 Sept 32.5 °C 28 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
12 Sept 32.9 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
13 Sept 33.3 °C 27 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
14 Sept 33.6 °C 25 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
15 Sept 33.8 °C 25 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
16 Sept 33.7 °C 24 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
17 Sept 32.7 °C 22 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
18 Sept 33.2 °C 26 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
19 Sept 33.2 °C 25 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
20 Sept 35.0 °C 24 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
21 Sept 32.0 °C 31 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
22 Sept 34.2 °C 28 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
23 Sept 33.9 °C 32 % 27 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 39
24 Sept 33.4 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
25 Sept 33.3 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
26 Sept 34.0 °C 29 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
27 Sept after 33.9 °C 30 % 28 km/h 0.6 mm High 33
28 Sept after 33.1 °C 40 % 28 km/h 3.2 mm Low 10

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 23 Jul 2026
After · 3 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 5 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 153 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 101: 6.8 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak153 µg/m³
Days over the guideline61 days
PM10157 µg/m³
Optical depth2.13
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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 · 18,406Every 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 Zambia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Chipili fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 30 July 2026 to 26 September 2026 (59 days). The perimeter dates it from 31 July 2026 to 19 September 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 614,688 hectares (6,146.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 7 municipalities: Chipili (229,118 ha, 53 %); Mansa (210,003 ha, 27 %); Lupososhi (84,802 ha, 20 %); Kawambwa (50,611 ha, 6.3 %); Mwense (24,652 ha, 10 %); Chifunabuli (11,218 ha, 3.6 %); Mwansabombwe (8,133 ha, 6.9 %).
Is the Chipili fire still active?
No fire detections since 26 Sept 2026, 11:38 UTC. A lack of detections is not an official extinction.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 35.0 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 39 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 42, 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.

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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.