Skip to content
worldfires
ID · Indonesia · –

Kota Baru fire, 26 August 2026 Kota Baru

Out · last detection 18 Oct 2026, 18:30 UTC

The fire started on 26 August 2026 in Kota Baru, Indonesia, and satellites saw it burning for 53 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 17,325 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:

We are reviewing this page: some of its data look inconsistent (the place, the dates or the area), so treat them with caution.

GWIS near-real-time perimeter, from the layer that changed in October 2025: this fire is not compared with fires from earlier years, because since then the GWIS layer gives more and larger perimeters.

Burnt area
17,325ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
53days
26 Aug 2026 – 17 Oct 2026
Municipalities hit
1
regencies
Started on
26 Aug
2026
Heat detections
845
in a single hotspot: 247 MW
Danger at start
16
Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power
259MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 26 Aug17 Oct
18 Oct 2026

How it evolved, day by day

26 Aug 2026 · 20 MW · 4 27 Aug 2026 · 8 MW · 1 28 Aug 2026 · 8 MW · 2 30 Aug 2026 · 16 MW · 4 1 Sept 2026 · 25 MW · 3 2 Sept 2026 · 85 MW · 9 3 Sept 2026 · 33 MW · 6 6 Sept 2026 · 27 MW · 3 7 Sept 2026 · 1 MW · 1 8 Sept 2026 · 21 MW · 5 9 Sept 2026 · 4 MW · 1 10 Sept 2026 · 2 MW · 2 11 Sept 2026 · 222 MW · 27 12 Sept 2026 · 714 MW · 44 13 Sept 2026 · 807 MW · 32 14 Sept 2026 · 55 MW · 12 15 Sept 2026 · 150 MW · 20 16 Sept 2026 · 133 MW · 14 17 Sept 2026 · 40 MW · 8 18 Sept 2026 · 143 MW · 16 19 Sept 2026 · 184 MW · 11 20 Sept 2026 · 2,287 MW · 59 21 Sept 2026 · 1,193 MW · 49 22 Sept 2026 · 1,502 MW · 65 23 Sept 2026 · 315 MW · 26 24 Sept 2026 · 197 MW · 23 25 Sept 2026 · 123 MW · 35 26 Sept 2026 · 936 MW · 39 27 Sept 2026 · 369 MW · 46 28 Sept 2026 · 381 MW · 47 29 Sept 2026 · 503 MW · 47 30 Sept 2026 · 32 MW · 14 1 Oct 2026 · 64 MW · 11 2 Oct 2026 · 148 MW · 15 3 Oct 2026 · 1,052 MW · 33 4 Oct 2026 · 378 MW · 22 5 Oct 2026 · 3 MW · 3 6 Oct 2026 · 28 MW · 10 7 Oct 2026 · 2 MW · 2 8 Oct 2026 · 140 MW · 10 9 Oct 2026 · 145 MW · 22 10 Oct 2026 · 4 MW · 4 11 Oct 2026 · 1 MW · 1 12 Oct 2026 · 44 MW · 4 13 Oct 2026 · 0 MW · 0 14 Oct 2026 · 50 MW · 9 15 Oct 2026 · 8 MW · 3 16 Oct 2026 · 18 MW · 7 17 Oct 2026 · 35 MW · 5 18 Oct 2026 · 24 MW · 9
26 Aug 9 Sept 20 Sept 29 Sept 9 Oct

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
44km/h · peak gust
47%lowest humidity

It had gone 27 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.0 mm on 25 Oct.

This area had burned before

19% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,535 ha in 2019, 44 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,314 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 11% of the area of London (173 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. Kota Baru where it started
    25,779 ha reached on 26 Aug
    2.8 %

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 2025
Built-up area4.3 ha
Residents≈ 850

Inside the perimeter there were about 4.3 hectares of built-up land and about 850 residents (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)
26 Aug 30.2 °C 57 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
27 Aug 29.8 °C 61 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
28 Aug 29.9 °C 58 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
29 Aug 30.5 °C 59 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
30 Aug 30.6 °C 58 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
31 Aug 30.7 °C 60 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
1 Sept 30.7 °C 58 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
2 Sept 30.3 °C 60 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
3 Sept 30.1 °C 59 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
4 Sept 30.4 °C 63 % 36 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 16
5 Sept 30.0 °C 60 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
6 Sept 30.4 °C 63 % 33 km/h 0.4 mm Moderate 17
7 Sept 29.4 °C 69 % 42 km/h 1.1 mm Moderate 12
8 Sept 29.8 °C 67 % 39 km/h 1.2 mm Low 11
9 Sept 30.3 °C 63 % 42 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 17
10 Sept 30.1 °C 64 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 17
11 Sept 30.6 °C 61 % 36 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 18
12 Sept 30.6 °C 63 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 18
13 Sept 31.3 °C 52 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
14 Sept 30.8 °C 54 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
15 Sept 31.0 °C 47 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
16 Sept 30.9 °C 55 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
17 Sept 30.2 °C 62 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
18 Sept 30.8 °C 57 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
19 Sept 31.5 °C 54 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
20 Sept 31.1 °C 56 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
21 Sept 31.5 °C 57 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
22 Sept 31.5 °C 59 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
23 Sept 32.0 °C 54 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
24 Sept 30.4 °C 61 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
25 Sept 31.2 °C 60 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm High 22
26 Sept 31.7 °C 57 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
27 Sept 31.9 °C 56 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
28 Sept 31.9 °C 55 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
29 Sept 32.0 °C 53 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
30 Sept 31.9 °C 57 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
1 Oct 31.5 °C 58 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
2 Oct 31.7 °C 52 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Oct 31.6 °C 56 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
4 Oct 31.0 °C 60 % 38 km/h 0.2 mm High 24
5 Oct 30.9 °C 60 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
6 Oct 30.6 °C 60 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
7 Oct 31.0 °C 60 % 33 km/h 0.1 mm High 24
8 Oct 30.7 °C 61 % 37 km/h 0.2 mm High 24
9 Oct 30.6 °C 60 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
10 Oct 30.9 °C 58 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
11 Oct 31.5 °C 59 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
12 Oct 32.0 °C 57 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
13 Oct 31.5 °C 58 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
14 Oct 30.8 °C 63 % 41 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 18
15 Oct 31.2 °C 65 % 41 km/h 0.1 mm Moderate 20
16 Oct 32.0 °C 58 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
17 Oct 31.4 °C 59 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
18 Oct after 30.5 °C 63 % 34 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 21
19 Oct after 31.7 °C 57 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 21
20 Oct after 32.2 °C 57 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
21 Oct after 32.2 °C 56 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
22 Oct after 32.0 °C 56 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
23 Oct after 30.6 °C 64 % 33 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 18
24 Oct after 31.8 °C 66 % 32 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 18
25 Oct after 32.1 °C 65 % 31 km/h 1.0 mm Moderate 14

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 19 Aug 2026
After · 24 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 10 October 2026 the air beside the fire reached 61 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 52: 3.5 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak61 µg/m³
Days over the guideline25 days
PM1069 µg/m³
Optical depth2.16
24 Aug5 Sept17 Sept29 Sept11 Oct
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 · 845Every 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 Indonesia

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Kota Baru fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 26 August 2026 to 17 October 2026 (53 days). The perimeter dates it from 2 September 2026 to 10 October 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 17,325 hectares (173.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Kota Baru (25,779 ha, 2.8 %).
Is the Kota Baru fire still active?
No fire detections since 18 Oct 2026, 18:30 UTC. A lack of detections is not an official extinction.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.0 °C, humidity dropped to 47 % and gusts hit 44 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 26, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Indonesia (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.

Emergency number: 112 · Emergency number and official warnings

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. Area: 25,600 → 17,325 ha.

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
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 112.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 4 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 2 September 2026 to 10 October 2026. 845 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 ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). 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.