How long did the Sukamara fire last?

GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 18 August 2026 and 24 October 2026: 68 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 69,939 hectares (699.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ketapang (70,166 ha, 2.3 %); Sukamara (4 ha, 0.0 %).

Is the Sukamara fire still active?

No fire detections since 24 Oct 2026, 18:53 UTC. A lack of detections is not an official extinction.

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 30.7 °C, humidity dropped to 60 % and gusts hit 57 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 25, 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.

ID · Indonesia · 2026-08-18 → 2026-10-24

Sukamara fire, 18 August 2026 Ketapang, Sukamara

Dying down · last detection 24 Oct 2026, 18:53 UTC

The fire started on 18 August 2026 in Sukamara, Indonesia, and satellites saw it burning for 68 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 69,939 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 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 6th largest in Central Kalimantan since 2016 (of 317 with a page). Number 14 in Indonesia in 2026, of 1007.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Ketapang · 2019 Ketapang · 2019 Ketapang · 2019 Sukamara · 2019

Is it still active?

No detections since 24 Oct 2026, 18:53 UTC. That usually means no flame is visible from space any more, although hotspots may remain. 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.

Burnt area: 69,939ha; GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration: 68days; 18 Aug 2026 – 24 Oct 2026
Municipalities hit: 2; regencies
Started on: 18 Aug; 2026
Heat detections: 8,265; in a single hotspot: 843 MW
Danger at start: 16; Moderate · FWI index
Average daily power: 1.2GW; detected power per day, on average

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 18 Aug24 Oct

Play back 24 Oct 2026

How it evolved, day by day

18 Aug 28 Aug 7 Sept 17 Sept 27 Sept 7 Oct 11 Oct 17 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

31°high

57km/h · peak gust

60%lowest humidity

It had gone 18 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

5% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 4,187 ha in 2019, 1,061 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 3,693 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

It burned the equivalent of 44% of the area of London (699 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

Ketapang

70,166 ha reached on 18 Aug

2.3 %
Sukamara where it started

4 ha reached on 18 Aug

0.0 %

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 2025

Built-up area12 ha

Residents≈ 1,900

Inside the perimeter there were about 12 hectares of built-up land and about 1,900 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)
11 Aug	28.4 °C	68 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 16
12 Aug	28.8 °C	68 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 16
13 Aug	28.6 °C	70 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 17
14 Aug	28.7 °C	76 %	43 km/h	0.2 mm	Moderate 15
15 Aug	28.9 °C	72 %	42 km/h	0.2 mm	Moderate 15
16 Aug	29.6 °C	66 %	43 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 16
17 Aug	28.8 °C	70 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 16
18 Aug	29.1 °C	66 %	52 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
19 Aug	28.6 °C	70 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 18
20 Aug	28.6 °C	68 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 18
21 Aug	28.9 °C	67 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
22 Aug	28.8 °C	71 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
23 Aug	28.6 °C	69 %	49 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
24 Aug	28.9 °C	67 %	55 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
25 Aug	29.5 °C	64 %	54 km/h	0.0 mm	High 23
26 Aug	28.8 °C	68 %	49 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 21
27 Aug	28.5 °C	69 %	49 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
28 Aug	28.9 °C	67 %	48 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
29 Aug	28.4 °C	68 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
30 Aug	28.9 °C	68 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
31 Aug	28.5 °C	70 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
1 Sept	29.1 °C	66 %	57 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
2 Sept	29.5 °C	60 %	49 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
3 Sept	29.4 °C	65 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
4 Sept	28.9 °C	70 %	48 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
5 Sept	28.7 °C	66 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
6 Sept	28.9 °C	66 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
7 Sept	29.0 °C	70 %	45 km/h	0.4 mm	High 22
8 Sept	29.0 °C	70 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
9 Sept	29.3 °C	68 %	44 km/h	0.1 mm	High 22
10 Sept	29.4 °C	69 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	High 23
11 Sept	29.5 °C	68 %	51 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
12 Sept	29.5 °C	65 %	43 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
13 Sept	29.2 °C	72 %	49 km/h	1.4 mm	Moderate 14
14 Sept	29.4 °C	66 %	53 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 21
15 Sept	29.4 °C	64 %	43 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 21
16 Sept	29.4 °C	69 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
17 Sept	28.6 °C	70 %	36 km/h	1.7 mm	Low 10
18 Sept	29.5 °C	66 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 17
19 Sept	29.5 °C	70 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
20 Sept	29.6 °C	70 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
21 Sept	29.5 °C	71 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
22 Sept	29.8 °C	68 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
23 Sept	29.3 °C	72 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
24 Sept	29.9 °C	69 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 18
25 Sept	30.1 °C	71 %	41 km/h	0.5 mm	Moderate 20
26 Sept	29.5 °C	75 %	37 km/h	0.8 mm	Moderate 13
27 Sept	29.2 °C	73 %	35 km/h	0.3 mm	Moderate 15
28 Sept	29.7 °C	68 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 17
29 Sept	30.7 °C	64 %	36 km/h	0.1 mm	Moderate 20
30 Sept	29.1 °C	75 %	35 km/h	1.4 mm	Low 10
1 Oct	29.1 °C	72 %	34 km/h	0.3 mm	Moderate 13
2 Oct	30.0 °C	66 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
3 Oct	29.7 °C	68 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20
4 Oct	30.0 °C	67 %	40 km/h	0.3 mm	Moderate 20
5 Oct	29.4 °C	70 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 20

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 11 Aug 2026

After · 24 Oct 2026

Before After

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 21 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 454 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 221: 15 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak454 µg/m³

Days over the guideline48 days

PM10466 µg/m³

Optical depth5.45

WHO 15

1617181920212223242526272829303112345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293012

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 · 8,265Every 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

All fires in Indonesia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Sukamara fire last?: GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 18 August 2026 and 24 October 2026: 68 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 69,939 hectares (699.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ketapang (70,166 ha, 2.3 %); Sukamara (4 ha, 0.0 %).
Is the Sukamara fire still active?: No fire detections since 24 Oct 2026, 18:53 UTC. A lack of detections is not an official extinction.
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 30.7 °C, humidity dropped to 60 % and gusts hit 57 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 25, 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

NASA FIRMS ↗
GWIS · Copernicus ↗

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.

RSS Changes to this page

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?

Dates or duration Place or towns Burned area Name It was not a wildfire Same fire as another page Something else

What really happened?

Your connection to the fire (optional) Email (optional)

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; 8 polygons grouped in this page.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 8,265 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.