Burned area
satellite only4,756ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus)
- Date
- 21 Aug 2017 – 5 Sept 2017
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
ZM · Zambia · –
Kawambwa fire, 21 August 2017 Kawambwa
Out · last detection 5 Sept 2017, 11:52 UTC
The fire started on 21 August 2017 in Kawambwa, Zambia, and satellites saw it burning for 16 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,756 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 231th largest in Luapula since 2016 (of 447 with a page). Number 102 in Zambia in 2017, of 230.
Use this data
Compare with…
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-26matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Duration by satellite
satellite only16days
21 Aug 2017 to 5 Sept 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 5 Sept 2017, 11:52 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only21 Aug 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 21 Aug 2017
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
Hotspots
satellite only171
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 112 MW.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
- Date
- 21 Aug 2017 – 5 Sept 2017
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only451MW
Total radiative power on 27 August 2017; hotspots that day: 38.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 27 Aug 2017
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model39.5FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 60.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 21 Aug 2017, local noon
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings
Weather during the fire
model32.4°C · 14% RH
High of 32.4 °C and minimum humidity of 14% on 24 August 2017; gusts of 48 km/h on 4 September 2017.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 21 Aug 2017 – 5 Sept 2017
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
This page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
-
logLast day with fire: 29 August 2017 → 5 September 2017.
-
logStart date: 22 August 2017 → 21 August 2017.
-
· reconstructed GHSLPopulation and built-up area computed
What was saved on 26 October 2026
Every night a snapshot of what the page shows is saved. If anything changes, it appears in the list as a log entry.
- Area
- 4,756 ha
- Dates
- 21 Aug 2017 – 5 Sept 2017
- Name
- Kawambwa
- Official record
- —
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/kawambwa-2017-08-4?v=2026-10-26A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
CSV for this fire kawambwa-2017-08-4.csv · daily, no individual hotspots
| fecha | focos_viirs | frp_mw | tmax_c | tmin_c | hr_min_pct | viento_max_kmh | racha_max_kmh | precip_mm | fwi | clase_fwi | dentro_del_incendio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-08-21 | 4 | 31 | 26.9 | 16.6 | 31 | 19.3 | 41 | 0 | 39.5 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-22 | 10 | 62 | 29.2 | 16.2 | 25 | 15.4 | 33.8 | 0 | 36.3 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-23 | 5 | 65 | 31.7 | 16.5 | 19 | 9.7 | 26.6 | 0 | 35.8 | alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-24 | 0 | 0 | 32.4 | 18.6 | 14 | 16.4 | 31 | 0 | 47.1 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-25 | 13 | 147 | 32.4 | 17.7 | 11 | 15.6 | 37.4 | 0 | 49.3 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-26 | 45 | 318 | 31 | 17.6 | 16 | 19.2 | 45 | 0 | 53.9 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-08-27 | 38 | 451 | 30.6 | 17.7 | 21 | 18.5 | 38.9 | 0 | 49.8 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-28 | 26 | 199 | 30.5 | 17.3 | 14 | 19.9 | 41.8 | 0 | 51.7 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-08-29 | 4 | 39 | 28.6 | 16.9 | 18 | 20.4 | 45.4 | 0 | 52.5 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-08-30 | 0 | 0 | 30.6 | 16.1 | 18 | 15.5 | 35.6 | 0 | 47.2 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-08-31 | 0 | 0 | 31.7 | 16.8 | 15 | 15.8 | 37.4 | 0 | 47.8 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-09-01 | 5 | 30 | 31.8 | 17.1 | 11 | 15.3 | 34.2 | 0 | 49.3 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-09-02 | 1 | 10 | 30.9 | 16.5 | 11 | 18.8 | 38.5 | 0 | 53.8 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-09-03 | 2 | 22 | 30.4 | 17.2 | 18 | 19.5 | 44.3 | 0 | 53.5 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-09-04 | 16 | 120 | 29.4 | 17.4 | 25 | 21.5 | 47.5 | 0 | 50 | extremo | 1 |
| 2017-09-05 | 2 | 6 | 30.1 | 17.6 | 25 | 16.9 | 39.2 | 0 | 44.5 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2017-09-06 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 18.5 | 21 | 13.9 | 32 | 0 | 41.7 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-07 | 0 | 0 | 32.1 | 18.7 | 16 | 13.8 | 32.4 | 0 | 43.7 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-08 | 0 | 0 | 31.2 | 18.7 | 17 | 15.8 | 36 | 0 | 46 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-09 | 0 | 0 | 31.3 | 19.4 | 19 | 14.8 | 37.4 | 0 | 45.2 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-10 | 0 | 0 | 30.7 | 18 | 24 | 13 | 31.3 | 0 | 42.1 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-11 | 0 | 0 | 32.4 | 19.3 | 17 | 15.2 | 37.8 | 0 | 44.8 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-12 | 0 | 0 | 32.3 | 18.6 | 17 | 15.6 | 37.1 | 0 | 45.5 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-13 | 0 | 0 | 31.9 | 18.5 | 16 | 17.9 | 37.4 | 0 | 48.4 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-14 | 0 | 0 | 32.2 | 18.9 | 16 | 14.1 | 32 | 0 | 44.5 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2017-09-15 | 0 | 0 | 32.9 | 17.9 | 15 | 10.7 | 25.9 | 0 | 42.2 | muy_alto | 0 |
It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.
Live widget for your story
It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.
Sources for this page: GWIS (Copernicus), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), GHSL (JRC). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology
- Burnt area
- 4,756ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 16days
- 21 Aug 2017 – 5 Sept 2017
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- districts
- Started on
- 21 Aug
- 2017
- Heat detections
- 171
- in a single hotspot: 112 MW
- Danger at start
- 40
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 115MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
21 Aug5 Sept
5 Sept 2017
How it evolved, day by day
21 Aug
27 Aug
2 Sept
5 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
48km/h · peak gust
11%lowest humidity
It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
41% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,935 ha in 2016.
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
Kawambwa where it started4,785 ha reached on 21 Aug0.6 %
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 2015Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Aug | 26.9 °C | 31 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 22 Aug | 29.2 °C | 25 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 23 Aug | 31.7 °C | 19 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 24 Aug | 32.4 °C | 14 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 25 Aug | 32.4 °C | 11 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 26 Aug | 31.0 °C | 16 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 27 Aug | 30.6 °C | 21 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 28 Aug | 30.5 °C | 14 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 29 Aug | 28.6 °C | 18 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 30 Aug | 30.6 °C | 18 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 31 Aug | 31.7 °C | 15 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 1 Sept | 31.8 °C | 11 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 2 Sept | 30.9 °C | 11 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 3 Sept | 30.4 °C | 18 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 4 Sept | 29.4 °C | 25 % | 48 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 5 Sept | 30.1 °C | 25 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 6 Sept after | 31.0 °C | 21 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 7 Sept after | 32.1 °C | 16 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 8 Sept after | 31.2 °C | 17 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 9 Sept after | 31.3 °C | 19 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 10 Sept after | 30.7 °C | 24 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 11 Sept after | 32.4 °C | 17 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 12 Sept after | 32.3 °C | 17 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 13 Sept after | 31.9 °C | 16 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 14 Sept after | 32.2 °C | 16 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 15 Sept after | 32.9 °C | 15 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 39.5, a minimum humidity of 31% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 52.
FWI at the start
39.5
Minimum humidity
31 %
Days without rain
60+
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Kawambwa fire, 21 August 2017
4,756 ha
16 days
FWI 39.5
Min. humidity 31 %
Kawambwa fire, August 2017
3,446 ha
7 days
FWI 39.2
Min. humidity 30 %
15 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Kawambwa fire, August 2023
3,551 ha
11 days
FWI 36.9
Min. humidity 31 %
7 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Mporokoso fire, August 2016
9,311 ha
25 days
FWI 40.7
Min. humidity 31 %
82 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Lunte fire, August 2019
3,983 ha
16 days
FWI 38.8
Min. humidity 31 %
141 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Mporokoso fire, August 2022
6,946 ha
28 days
FWI 39.6
Min. humidity 29 %
50 km away, in 2022
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
What happened to them
- 16 days
- median duration
- 4,328 ha
- median area
- 15 %
- went past 10,000 ha
- 3.0 mm
- rain at the end (median; 3 of 52 had it)
It burned an area similar to its twins (4,756 ha against a median of 4,328 ha) and lasted 16 days, against 16 days.
In 49 of 52, 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 3.0 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
48km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 5 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 52, with a median of 3.0 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.
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 14 Aug 2017
After · 12 Sept 2017
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 · 171Every 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
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Kawambwa fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 21 August 2017 to 5 September 2017 (16 days). The perimeter dates it from 22 August 2017 to 29 August 2017.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,756 hectares (47.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Kawambwa (4,785 ha, 0.6 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 32.4 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 48 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 54, class Extreme.
- 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: 52. Their median duration was 16 days and their median area 4,328 ha; 15 % went past 10,000 ha. In 49 of 52, 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 3.0 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.
- Last day with fire: 29 August 2017 → 5 September 2017.
- Start date: 22 August 2017 → 21 August 2017.
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 22 August 2017 to 29 August 2017. 171 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.
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.