WILDFIRE

Wildfire near Chitipa, Zambia

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Map: Wildfire near Chitipa, Zambia

GDACS has tracked this wildfire near Chitipa, Zambia since October 6, 2026, 12 days as of its latest update on October 18. It carries a GREEN alert: limited humanitarian impact expected. Satellites put the burned area at 54,138 acres (21,909 hectares, 219 km²), roughly 3.7 times the size of Manhattan, or about 41,014 American football fields.

TypeWildfire
GDACS alertGreen
CountryZambia
SinceOct 6, 2026
Tracked for12 days
Burned area21,909 ha · 54,137 acres
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How the size is measured

GDACS estimates burned areas from satellite data, so the figures cover the whole fire complex and may include several fires burning close together.

Seen from space

Satellite picture, When tracking began · October 6, 2026
When tracking began · October 6, 2026
Satellite picture, Latest · October 18, 2026
Latest · October 18, 2026

True color from the VIIRS instrument on the NOAA-20 satellite. Red dots are fires detected by their heat; smoke shows as gray-brown haze. The ring marks where the event was reported. Pictures: NASA Worldview (GIBS) from the daily satellite passes; clouds can hide the ground on some days.

GDACS report. Source: GDACS, the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System of the United Nations and the European Commission (CC BY 4.0).

Did you know?

Santa Ana winds. Southern California’s Santa Ana winds push hot, dry desert air toward the coast in fall and winter, driving many of the region’s worst fires.

More: every wildfire page · all events

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