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ZM · Zambia · –

Kawambwa fire, 17 August 2016 Kawambwa, Lupososhi, Chipili

Out · last detection 19 Sept 2016, 11:33 UTC

The fire started on 17 August 2016 in Kawambwa, Zambia, and satellites saw it burning for 33 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 122,922 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 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.

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

It is the 8th largest in Luapula since 2016 (of 447 with a page). Number 2 in Zambia in 2016, of 246.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Lupososhi · 2024Mansa · 2017Kawambwa · 2017Kawambwa · 2019

Burnt area
122,922ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
33days
17 Aug 2016 – 18 Sept 2016
Municipalities hit
3
districts
Started on
17 Aug
2016
Heat detections
5,443
in a single hotspot: 211 MW
Danger at start
37
High · FWI index
Average daily power
2.0GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Aug18 Sept
19 Sept 2016

How it evolved, day by day

17 Aug 2016 · 266 MW · 25 18 Aug 2016 · 153 MW · 25 19 Aug 2016 · 231 MW · 24 20 Aug 2016 · 615 MW · 84 21 Aug 2016 · 418 MW · 36 22 Aug 2016 · 657 MW · 53 23 Aug 2016 · 2,288 MW · 347 24 Aug 2016 · 2,919 MW · 206 25 Aug 2016 · 2,369 MW · 168 26 Aug 2016 · 1,829 MW · 164 27 Aug 2016 · 5,205 MW · 401 28 Aug 2016 · 5,434 MW · 399 29 Aug 2016 · 9,692 MW · 725 30 Aug 2016 · 7,347 MW · 587 31 Aug 2016 · 6,448 MW · 375 1 Sept 2016 · 2,098 MW · 246 2 Sept 2016 · 2,072 MW · 153 3 Sept 2016 · 2,359 MW · 204 4 Sept 2016 · 1,941 MW · 124 5 Sept 2016 · 1,431 MW · 125 6 Sept 2016 · 1,950 MW · 159 7 Sept 2016 · 1,373 MW · 133 8 Sept 2016 · 1,948 MW · 121 9 Sept 2016 · 761 MW · 51 10 Sept 2016 · 786 MW · 56 11 Sept 2016 · 644 MW · 48 12 Sept 2016 · 1,768 MW · 113 13 Sept 2016 · 987 MW · 64 14 Sept 2016 · 733 MW · 54 15 Sept 2016 · 340 MW · 34 16 Sept 2016 · 750 MW · 47 17 Sept 2016 · 373 MW · 43 18 Sept 2016 · 458 MW · 29 19 Sept 2016 · 323 MW · 20
17 Aug 24 Aug 29 Aug 7 Sept 14 Sept

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

The weather it burned in

32°high
62km/h · peak gust
18%lowest humidity

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.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 78% of the area of London (1,229 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. Kawambwa where it started
    71,229 ha reached on 17 Aug
    8.8 %
  2. Lupososhi
    44,951 ha reached on 22 Aug
    11 %
  3. Chipili
    7,949 ha reached on 17 Aug
    1.8 %

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 2015
Built-up area61 ha
Residents≈ 6,500

Inside the perimeter there were about 61 hectares of built-up land and about 6,500 residents (GHSL 2015, 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.

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)

Started with 60 days without rain: 91 % of the area in Zambia

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
17 Aug 26.0 °C 33 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
18 Aug 27.3 °C 30 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
19 Aug 28.4 °C 27 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
20 Aug 29.5 °C 25 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
21 Aug 31.3 °C 21 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
22 Aug 30.3 °C 24 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
23 Aug 30.1 °C 19 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
24 Aug 27.1 °C 31 % 62 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
25 Aug 27.0 °C 28 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
26 Aug 26.6 °C 29 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
27 Aug 27.5 °C 27 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Aug 27.2 °C 23 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
29 Aug 27.4 °C 21 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
30 Aug 27.5 °C 23 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
31 Aug 27.6 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
1 Sept 27.1 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
2 Sept 27.1 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
3 Sept 28.5 °C 21 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
4 Sept 28.3 °C 26 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
5 Sept 29.7 °C 24 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
6 Sept 29.9 °C 24 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
7 Sept 30.0 °C 23 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
8 Sept 30.5 °C 27 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
9 Sept 30.2 °C 24 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
10 Sept 31.0 °C 18 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
11 Sept 30.6 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
12 Sept 29.8 °C 21 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
13 Sept 30.7 °C 19 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
14 Sept 31.0 °C 20 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
15 Sept 30.7 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
16 Sept 31.5 °C 22 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
17 Sept 31.4 °C 25 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
18 Sept 31.7 °C 24 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
19 Sept after 31.2 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
20 Sept after 29.2 °C 20 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
21 Sept after 29.8 °C 20 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
22 Sept after 30.5 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
23 Sept after 31.6 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
24 Sept after 31.7 °C 18 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
25 Sept after 31.8 °C 17 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
26 Sept after 31.5 °C 17 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
27 Sept after 30.6 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
28 Sept after 31.9 °C 19 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 36.6, a minimum humidity of 33% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 18.

FWI at the start 36.6
Minimum humidity 33 %
Days without rain 60+
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Lupososhi fire, August 2024
3,866 ha 21 days FWI 37.7 Min. humidity 33 % 59 km away, in 2024

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.

See its page Compare with this fire

What happened to them

13 days
median duration
3,825 ha
median area
22 %
went past 10,000 ha
3.6 mm
rain at the end (median; 3 of 18 had it)

It was 32.1 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 33 days, against 13 days.

Only 1 of its 18 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 15 of 18, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 3.6 mm.

This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it

How it ended

—first rain
—no rain in ten days
62km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 18 Sept, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 3 of 18, with a median of 3.6 mm.

Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

How a twin is chosen

  • Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
  • Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
  • Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
  • Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
  • They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 10 Aug 2016
After · 25 Sept 2016

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 · 5,443Every 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 Kawambwa fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 17 August 2016 to 18 September 2016 (33 days). The perimeter dates it from 20 August 2016 to 11 September 2016.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 122,922 hectares (1,229.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Kawambwa (71,229 ha, 8.8 %); Lupososhi (44,951 ha, 11 %); Chipili (7,949 ha, 1.8 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 31.7 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 62 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 47, 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.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 18. Their median duration was 13 days and their median area 3,825 ha; 22 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 1 of its 18 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 15 of 18, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 3.6 mm.

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 · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 11 September 2016 → 18 September 2016.
  2. Start date: 20 August 2016 → 17 August 2016.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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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How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 6 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 20 August 2016 to 11 September 2016. 5,443 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 2015, 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 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.