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AO · Angola · –

Luquembo fire, 12 July 2026 Luquembo, Cambundi-Catembo

Out · last detection 24 Aug 2026, 11:57 UTC

The fire started on 12 July 2026 in Luquembo, Angola, and satellites saw it burning for 44 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 59,128 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

Number 15 in Angola in 2026, of 487.

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

Compare with…

Suggestions: Luquembo · 2019Luquembo · 2024Luquembo · 2025Luquembo · 2019

Burnt area
59,128ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
44days
12 Jul 2026 – 24 Aug 2026
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
12 Jul
2026
Heat detections
2,013
in a single hotspot: 162 MW
Danger at start
37
High · FWI index
Average daily power
715MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 12 Jul24 Aug
24 Aug 2026

How it evolved, day by day

12 Jul 2026 · 183 MW · 16 13 Jul 2026 · 335 MW · 27 14 Jul 2026 · 894 MW · 50 15 Jul 2026 · 303 MW · 27 16 Jul 2026 · 548 MW · 53 17 Jul 2026 · 1,525 MW · 89 18 Jul 2026 · 280 MW · 28 19 Jul 2026 · 126 MW · 21 20 Jul 2026 · 671 MW · 41 21 Jul 2026 · 361 MW · 28 22 Jul 2026 · 120 MW · 10 23 Jul 2026 · 179 MW · 18 24 Jul 2026 · 5,386 MW · 205 25 Jul 2026 · 3,977 MW · 226 26 Jul 2026 · 1,816 MW · 213 27 Jul 2026 · 2,727 MW · 162 28 Jul 2026 · 769 MW · 39 29 Jul 2026 · 616 MW · 40 30 Jul 2026 · 296 MW · 29 31 Jul 2026 · 668 MW · 32 1 Aug 2026 · 235 MW · 44 2 Aug 2026 · 209 MW · 29 3 Aug 2026 · 195 MW · 22 4 Aug 2026 · 84 MW · 18 5 Aug 2026 · 252 MW · 20 6 Aug 2026 · 735 MW · 39 7 Aug 2026 · 442 MW · 25 8 Aug 2026 · 519 MW · 47 9 Aug 2026 · 2,282 MW · 117 10 Aug 2026 · 1,184 MW · 60 11 Aug 2026 · 816 MW · 63 12 Aug 2026 · 537 MW · 30 13 Aug 2026 · 302 MW · 20 14 Aug 2026 · 118 MW · 11 15 Aug 2026 · 126 MW · 15 16 Aug 2026 · 63 MW · 10 17 Aug 2026 · 119 MW · 15 19 Aug 2026 · 465 MW · 35 20 Aug 2026 · 111 MW · 31 21 Aug 2026 · 149 MW · 2 22 Aug 2026 · 25 MW · 2 23 Aug 2026 · 6 MW · 1 24 Aug 2026 · 8 MW · 3
12 Jul 24 Jul 8 Aug 17 Aug

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

The weather it burned in

33°high
46km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone 59 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

90% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 15,926 ha in 2016, 16,448 ha in 2017, 5,962 ha in 2018, 28,199 ha in 2019, 17,242 ha in 2020, 16,806 ha in 2021, 10,298 ha in 2022, 14,515 ha in 2023, 13,812 ha in 2024, 18,454 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 53,167 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 37% of the area of London (591 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. Luquembo where it started
    54,793 ha reached on 12 Jul
    5.5 %
  2. Cambundi-Catembo
    4,923 ha reached on 20 Jul
    0.5 %

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 area3.8 ha
Residents≈ 800

Inside the perimeter there were about 3.8 hectares of built-up land and about 800 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)
12 Jul 30.3 °C 18 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
13 Jul 30.5 °C 20 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
14 Jul 30.9 °C 16 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
15 Jul 30.4 °C 19 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
16 Jul 29.2 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
17 Jul 27.9 °C 18 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
18 Jul 28.1 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
19 Jul 29.8 °C 19 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
20 Jul 28.9 °C 26 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
21 Jul 29.3 °C 31 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
22 Jul 31.2 °C 23 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
23 Jul 32.5 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
24 Jul 32.3 °C 13 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
25 Jul 31.0 °C 21 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
26 Jul 30.6 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
27 Jul 30.5 °C 23 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
28 Jul 29.7 °C 17 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
29 Jul 29.8 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Jul 29.4 °C 25 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
31 Jul 30.6 °C 21 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
1 Aug 30.4 °C 21 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
2 Aug 30.8 °C 19 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
3 Aug 30.1 °C 22 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
4 Aug 29.7 °C 28 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
5 Aug 30.8 °C 22 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
6 Aug 31.2 °C 19 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
7 Aug 32.1 °C 15 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
8 Aug 31.2 °C 20 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
9 Aug 31.4 °C 18 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
10 Aug 31.5 °C 17 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
11 Aug 31.5 °C 17 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
12 Aug 31.7 °C 14 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
13 Aug 32.2 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
14 Aug 32.0 °C 30 % 43 km/h 0.2 mm Very high 50
15 Aug 31.9 °C 28 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
16 Aug 31.0 °C 23 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
17 Aug 31.4 °C 18 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
18 Aug 32.1 °C 16 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
19 Aug 32.6 °C 14 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
20 Aug 32.0 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
21 Aug 30.7 °C 22 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
22 Aug 31.5 °C 24 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
23 Aug 33.0 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
24 Aug 33.4 °C 22 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
25 Aug after 31.9 °C 25 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
26 Aug after 32.1 °C 28 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
27 Aug after 34.5 °C 21 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
28 Aug after 32.7 °C 24 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
29 Aug after 32.6 °C 22 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
30 Aug after 30.9 °C 34 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
31 Aug after 30.2 °C 42 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm High 28
1 Sept after 32.9 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
2 Sept after 33.8 °C 27 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
3 Sept after 31.2 °C 37 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm High 33

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 5 Jul 2026
After · 31 Aug 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 18 July 2026 the air beside the fire reached 247 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 130: 8.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak247 µg/m³
Days over the guideline35 days
PM10252 µg/m³
Optical depth1.40
17 Jul24 Jul31 Jul7 Aug14 Aug
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 · 2,013Every 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 Angola

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Luquembo fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 12 July 2026 to 24 August 2026 (44 days). The perimeter dates it from 19 July 2026 to 17 August 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 59,128 hectares (591.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Luquembo (54,793 ha, 5.5 %); Cambundi-Catembo (4,923 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.4 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 66, 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

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: 17 August 2026 → 24 August 2026.
  2. Start date: 19 July 2026 → 17 July 2026.

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.

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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 19 July 2026 to 17 August 2026. 2,013 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 (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.