How long did the Jamba fire last?

GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 6 August 2026 and 5 September 2026: 31 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 29,771 hectares (297.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 2 municipalities: Jamba (27,540 ha, 2.4 %); Chipindo (2,365 ha, 0.6 %).

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 34.2 °C, humidity dropped to 9 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 55, class Extreme.

Where does this data come from?

From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Angola (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

AO · Angola · 2026-08-06 → 2026-09-05

Jamba fire, 6 August 2026 Jamba, Chipindo

Out · last detection 6 Sept 2026, 12:53 UTC

The fire started on 6 August 2026 in Jamba, Angola, and satellites saw it burning for 31 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 29,771 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 4th largest in Huíla since 2016 (of 70 with a page). Number 34 in Angola in 2026, of 486.

Burnt area: 29,771ha; GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration: 31days; 6 Aug 2026 – 5 Sept 2026
Municipalities hit: 2; municipalities
Started on: 6 Aug; 2026
Heat detections: 1,037; in a single hotspot: 86 MW
Danger at start: 43; Very high · FWI index
Energy released: 7.5GW; sum of detected power

Play back 6 Sept 2026

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 6 Aug5 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

34°high

50km/h · peak gust

9%lowest humidity

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

This area had burned before

38% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,097 ha in 2017, 1,095 ha in 2019, 900 ha in 2020, 997 ha in 2022, 2,578 ha in 2023, 3,988 ha in 2024, 1,453 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 11,314 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

Jamba where it started

27,540 ha reached on 30 Jul

2.4 %
Chipindo

2,365 ha reached on 11 Aug

0.6 %

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	16 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
31 Jul	29.0 °C	14 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
1 Aug	28.9 °C	13 %	25 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
2 Aug	28.1 °C	15 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
3 Aug	29.0 °C	16 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
4 Aug	28.4 °C	21 %	25 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
5 Aug	29.3 °C	17 %	19 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
6 Aug	30.0 °C	16 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
7 Aug	29.6 °C	16 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
8 Aug	29.4 °C	15 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
9 Aug	29.6 °C	12 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
10 Aug	30.0 °C	10 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
11 Aug	29.7 °C	13 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 49
12 Aug	29.9 °C	13 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 50
13 Aug	30.7 °C	12 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 49
14 Aug	29.9 °C	21 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
15 Aug	29.5 °C	21 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
16 Aug	29.1 °C	18 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
17 Aug	29.5 °C	16 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
18 Aug	30.6 °C	13 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
19 Aug	31.4 °C	10 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 50
20 Aug	31.8 °C	10 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
21 Aug	32.3 °C	9 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
22 Aug	31.0 °C	13 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 49
23 Aug	31.7 °C	15 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 53
24 Aug	32.7 °C	17 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
25 Aug	32.7 °C	15 %	43 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
26 Aug	33.1 °C	14 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 53
27 Aug	32.6 °C	13 %	43 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 55
28 Aug	31.9 °C	14 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 53
29 Aug	31.4 °C	14 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 50
30 Aug	33.0 °C	15 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 50
31 Aug	32.3 °C	20 %	20 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
1 Sept	32.7 °C	19 %	22 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
2 Sept	33.7 °C	15 %	24 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
3 Sept	34.2 °C	13 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
4 Sept	32.1 °C	15 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
5 Sept	31.6 °C	18 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 51
6 Sept after	31.9 °C	15 %	20 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
7 Sept after	33.7 °C	11 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 49
8 Sept after	33.3 °C	24 %	50 km/h	3.0 mm	High 27
9 Sept after	27.7 °C	31 %	40 km/h	0.8 mm	High 27
10 Sept after	31.5 °C	21 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
11 Sept after	32.6 °C	21 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
12 Sept after	33.2 °C	20 %	24 km/h	0.8 mm	High 32
13 Sept after	32.3 °C	26 %	31 km/h	0.6 mm	High 34
14 Sept after	32.2 °C	25 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
15 Sept after	34.7 °C	15 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
16 Sept after	35.0 °C	19 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
17 Sept after	34.1 °C	21 %	27 km/h	0.1 mm	Very high 46
18 Sept after	33.7 °C	16 %	40 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
19 Sept after	31.5 °C	27 %	45 km/h	0.6 mm	Very high 40
20 Sept after	31.4 °C	24 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
21 Sept after	31.4 °C	21 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
22 Sept after	32.9 °C	16 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 30 Jul 2026

After · 12 Sept 2026

Before After

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 30 August 2026 the air beside the fire reached 114 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 58: 3.9 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak114 µg/m³

Days over the guideline39 days

PM10118 µg/m³

Optical depth1.39

WHO 15

2829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415

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 · 1,037Every 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 time	Satellite	FRP (MW)	Lat	Lon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Angola ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Jamba fire last?: GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 6 August 2026 and 5 September 2026: 31 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 29,771 hectares (297.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 2 municipalities: Jamba (27,540 ha, 2.4 %); Chipindo (2,365 ha, 0.6 %).
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 34.2 °C, humidity dropped to 9 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 55, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?: From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Angola (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

NASA FIRMS ↗
GWIS · Copernicus ↗

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 (Public Domain). 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.

Where it burned