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Darak fire, 11 May 2026 Darak

Out · last detection 27 Jun 2026, 11:50 UTC

The fire started on 11 May 2026 in Darak, Cameroon, and satellites saw it burning for 48 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,721 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.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the 10th largest in Far North since 2016 (of 340 with a page). Number 20 in Cameroon in 2026, of 363.

The power measured by the satellite is low (22.6 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Darak · 2025Darak · 2024Darak · 2017Darak · 2021

Burnt area
4,721ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
48days
11 May 2026 – 27 Jun 2026
Municipalities hit
1
communes
Started on
11 May
2026
Heat detections
249
in a single hotspot: 23 MW
Danger at start
51
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
57MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 11 May27 Jun
27 Jun 2026

How it evolved, day by day

11 May 2026 · 17 MW · 2 12 May 2026 · 385 MW · 32 13 May 2026 · 107 MW · 15 14 May 2026 · 78 MW · 11 15 May 2026 · 39 MW · 5 17 May 2026 · 19 MW · 2 18 May 2026 · 4 MW · 1 19 May 2026 · 77 MW · 10 20 May 2026 · 6 MW · 1 21 May 2026 · 33 MW · 5 23 May 2026 · 26 MW · 4 24 May 2026 · 39 MW · 5 25 May 2026 · 93 MW · 16 27 May 2026 · 17 MW · 2 29 May 2026 · 17 MW · 2 30 May 2026 · 7 MW · 1 31 May 2026 · 42 MW · 5 1 Jun 2026 · 32 MW · 6 2 Jun 2026 · 18 MW · 2 3 Jun 2026 · 92 MW · 10 7 Jun 2026 · 42 MW · 8 8 Jun 2026 · 94 MW · 11 9 Jun 2026 · 34 MW · 5 11 Jun 2026 · 10 MW · 2 12 Jun 2026 · 38 MW · 5 13 Jun 2026 · 193 MW · 22 17 Jun 2026 · 46 MW · 6 18 Jun 2026 · 152 MW · 15 19 Jun 2026 · 60 MW · 12 21 Jun 2026 · 18 MW · 2 23 Jun 2026 · 38 MW · 8 24 Jun 2026 · 33 MW · 4 25 Jun 2026 · 54 MW · 8 26 Jun 2026 · 13 MW · 2 27 Jun 2026 · 6 MW · 2
11 May 12 May 17 May 23 May 30 May 7 Jun 13 Jun 23 Jun

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

The weather it burned in

43°high
51km/h · peak gust
14%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

84% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,300 ha in 2017, 1,752 ha in 2021, 2,456 ha in 2024, 2,311 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,973 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 3% of the area of London (47 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Darak where it started
    3,964 ha reached on 11 May
    2.1 %

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

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2025, satellite-based estimate).

This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)
18 May 41.0 °C 22 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
19 May 40.9 °C 25 % 44 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 64
20 May 40.5 °C 21 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
21 May 39.9 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.9 mm Very high 43
22 May 39.8 °C 28 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 41
23 May 39.5 °C 30 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
24 May 41.7 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 44
25 May 42.1 °C 14 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
26 May 40.3 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
27 May 40.3 °C 22 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
28 May 41.2 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
29 May 42.0 °C 21 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
30 May 41.6 °C 23 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
31 May 41.6 °C 27 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
1 Jun 40.0 °C 26 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
2 Jun 41.5 °C 17 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
3 Jun 39.9 °C 30 % 45 km/h 0.6 mm Extreme 54
4 Jun 39.6 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.9 mm Very high 46
5 Jun 34.8 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
6 Jun 36.0 °C 33 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Jun 38.5 °C 31 % 32 km/h 0.7 mm Very high 40
8 Jun 42.5 °C 21 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
9 Jun 42.0 °C 24 % 43 km/h 0.6 mm Extreme 57
10 Jun 36.0 °C 37 % 48 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 54
11 Jun 40.8 °C 26 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
12 Jun 43.0 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
13 Jun 40.0 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.2 mm Very extreme 78
14 Jun 32.4 °C 42 % 51 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 55
15 Jun 37.7 °C 26 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
16 Jun 40.8 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
17 Jun 38.3 °C 27 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
18 Jun 38.5 °C 33 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
19 Jun 39.2 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
20 Jun 37.6 °C 27 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
21 Jun 38.7 °C 20 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
22 Jun 39.9 °C 24 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
23 Jun 38.5 °C 27 % 40 km/h 0.6 mm Extreme 51
24 Jun 39.3 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
25 Jun 39.1 °C 21 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
26 Jun 38.1 °C 18 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
27 Jun 38.2 °C 27 % 37 km/h 0.3 mm Extreme 54
28 Jun after 38.1 °C 23 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
29 Jun after 39.2 °C 25 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 53
30 Jun after 34.9 °C 36 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
1 Jul after 39.2 °C 28 % 35 km/h 0.9 mm Very high 42
2 Jul after 39.7 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
3 Jul after 40.8 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
4 Jul after 40.7 °C 22 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
5 Jul after 40.4 °C 25 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
6 Jul after 41.3 °C 23 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
7 Jul after 37.2 °C 36 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 4 May 2026
After · 4 Jul 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 17 June 2026 the air beside the fire reached 53 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 43: 2.9 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak53 µg/m³
Days over the guideline44 days
PM10198 µg/m³
Optical depth0.64
16171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
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 · 249Every 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 Cameroon ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Darak fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 11 May 2026 to 27 June 2026 (48 days). The perimeter dates it from 18 May 2026 to 27 June 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,721 hectares (47.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Darak (3,964 ha, 2.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 43.0 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 51 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 78, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Cameroon (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

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Start date: 18 May 2026 → 11 May 2026.

RSS Changes to this page

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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How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 18 May 2026 to 27 June 2026. 249 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
  • Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

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 ADM3 (Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0). 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.