Mansa fire, 18 July 2026 Mansa
The fire started on 18 July 2026 in Mansa, Zambia, and satellites saw it burning for 50 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 30,881 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:
It is the 37th largest in Luapula since 2016 (of 533 with a page). Number 23 in Zambia in 2026, of 613.
Compare with…
Suggestions: Mansa · 2016Mansa · 2018Mansa · 2019Mansa · 2021
- Burnt area
- 30,881ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 50days
- 18 Jul 2026 – 5 Sept 2026
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- districts
- Started on
- 18 Jul
- 2026
- Heat detections
- 1,107
- in a single hotspot: 54 MW
- Danger at start
- 31
- High · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 181MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
96% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 17,864 ha in 2016, 9,536 ha in 2017, 14,030 ha in 2018, 16,116 ha in 2019, 13,129 ha in 2020, 11,186 ha in 2021, 10,028 ha in 2022, 9,331 ha in 2023, 9,840 ha in 2024, 9,141 ha in 2025. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 29,543 ha that had burned before.
- 10,367 ha Mansa fire, July 2016 20,463 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 8,357 ha Mansa fire, July 2018 13,615 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 6,021 ha Mansa fire, August 2019 22,056 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 4,197 ha Mansa fire, August 2021 6,697 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 3,573 ha Mansa fire, July 2025 3,987 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 3,498 ha Mansa fire, July 2019 5,146 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,944 ha Mansa fire, August 2017 3,492 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,545 ha Mansa fire, July 2024 3,132 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
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
-
Mansa where it started31,094 ha reached on 18 Jul4.0 %
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 2025Inside the perimeter there were about 35 hectares of built-up land and about 8,400 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Jul | 25.1 °C | 30 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 20 Jul | 26.6 °C | 30 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 21 Jul | 27.3 °C | 31 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 22 Jul | 26.7 °C | 37 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 23 Jul | 26.6 °C | 43 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 24 Jul | 26.2 °C | 39 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 25 Jul | 25.7 °C | 34 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 26 Jul | 24.5 °C | 38 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 27 Jul | 24.5 °C | 42 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 28 Jul | 25.7 °C | 36 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 29 Jul | 26.1 °C | 35 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 30 Jul | 26.2 °C | 33 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 31 Jul | 25.6 °C | 28 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 1 Aug | 23.6 °C | 29 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 2 Aug | 23.4 °C | 34 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 3 Aug | 23.9 °C | 38 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 4 Aug | 24.7 °C | 37 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 5 Aug | 25.2 °C | 36 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 6 Aug | 25.7 °C | 40 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 7 Aug | 26.3 °C | 42 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 8 Aug | 26.1 °C | 42 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 9 Aug | 26.9 °C | 42 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 10 Aug | 29.2 °C | 34 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 11 Aug | 28.8 °C | 31 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 12 Aug | 27.6 °C | 32 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 13 Aug | 25.2 °C | 43 % | 52 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 14 Aug | 23.9 °C | 43 % | 52 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 15 Aug | 24.2 °C | 36 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 16 Aug | 24.3 °C | 35 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 17 Aug | 25.1 °C | 30 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 18 Aug | 26.0 °C | 24 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 19 Aug | 25.4 °C | 28 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 20 Aug | 25.8 °C | 32 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 21 Aug | 26.1 °C | 32 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 22 Aug | 27.6 °C | 30 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 23 Aug | 27.7 °C | 33 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 24 Aug | 28.7 °C | 34 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 25 Aug | 27.9 °C | 39 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 26 Aug | 28.9 °C | 39 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 27 Aug | 28.0 °C | 40 % | 52 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 28 Aug | 26.2 °C | 42 % | 49 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 29 Aug | 26.6 °C | 40 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 30 Aug | 28.7 °C | 33 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 31 Aug | 29.1 °C | 32 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 1 Sept | 29.2 °C | 33 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 2 Sept | 28.5 °C | 35 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 3 Sept | 29.2 °C | 34 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 4 Sept | 30.0 °C | 33 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 5 Sept | 28.5 °C | 38 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 6 Sept after | 28.8 °C | 39 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 7 Sept after | 28.8 °C | 38 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 8 Sept after | 27.1 °C | 35 % | 53 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 9 Sept after | 26.2 °C | 41 % | 55 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 10 Sept after | 27.2 °C | 40 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 11 Sept after | 28.9 °C | 35 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 12 Sept after | 30.1 °C | 31 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 13 Sept after | 30.7 °C | 30 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 14 Sept after | 30.4 °C | 32 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 15 Sept after | 30.9 °C | 27 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
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 · CopernicusOn 5 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 186 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 103: 6.8 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
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 · 1,107Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Mansa fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 18 July 2026 to 5 September 2026 (50 days). The perimeter dates it from 19 July 2026 to 29 August 2026.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 30,881 hectares (308.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Mansa (31,094 ha, 4.0 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 30.0 °C, humidity dropped to 24 % and gusts hit 52 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 41, 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.
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 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
No changes since 24 October 2026.
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; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 19 July 2026 to 29 August 2026. 1,107 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.
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.