Usuk fire, September 2026 Usuk
The fire started on 16 September 2026 in Usuk, Uganda, and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,021 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 26th largest in Eastern Region since 2016 (of 27 with a page). Number 252 in Uganda in 2026, of 270.
The power measured by the satellite is low (8.7 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
- Burnt area
- 1,021ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 7days
- 16 Sept 2026 – 22 Sept 2026
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- counties
- Started on
- 16 Sept
- 2026
- Heat detections
- 13
- in a single hotspot: 9 MW
- Danger at start
- 39
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 81MW
- sum of detected power
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 38 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
22% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 229 ha in 2017.
What happened to each town
-
Usuk where it started1,028 ha reached on 16 Sept0.4 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 Sept | 35.3 °C | 22 % | 38 km/h | 0.1 mm | Very high 39 |
| 17 Sept | 32.0 °C | 39 % | 31 km/h | 9.4 mm | Low 6 |
| 18 Sept | 32.5 °C | 33 % | 21 km/h | 0.6 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 19 Sept | 34.9 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.2 mm | High 31 |
| 20 Sept | 36.5 °C | 13 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 21 Sept | 35.6 °C | 22 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 22 Sept | 34.5 °C | 27 % | 23 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 33 |
| 23 Sept after | 34.6 °C | 29 % | 31 km/h | 0.4 mm | High 38 |
| 24 Sept after | 34.4 °C | 26 % | 30 km/h | 0.1 mm | Very high 38 |
| 25 Sept after | 34.6 °C | 26 % | 28 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 38 |
| 26 Sept after | 37.0 °C | 18 % | 24 km/h | 0.4 mm | High 37 |
| 27 Sept after | 36.7 °C | 18 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 28 Sept after | 37.4 °C | 18 % | 25 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 37 |
| 29 Sept after | 34.5 °C | 30 % | 30 km/h | 0.4 mm | High 38 |
| 30 Sept after | 36.5 °C | 12 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 1 Oct after | 34.1 °C | 22 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 2 Oct after | 34.9 °C | 16 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
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 21 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 30 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 17: 1.1 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 · 13Every 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 Usuk fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 16 September 2026 to 22 September 2026 (7 days). The perimeter dates it from 18 September 2026 to 22 September 2026.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 1,021 hectares (10.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Usuk (1,028 ha, 0.4 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 36.5 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 38 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 Uganda (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: 999 · 112
Satellite cross-check
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
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.