WILDFIRE

Wildfire near Chipata, Zambia

Latest update Saturday, October 24, 2026

GDACS has tracked this wildfire near Chipata, Zambia since October 9, 2026, 15 days as of its latest update on October 24. It carries a GREEN alert: limited humanitarian impact expected. Satellites put the burned area at 86,220 acres (34,892 hectares, 349 km²), roughly 5.9 times the size of Manhattan, or about 65,318 American football fields.

TypeWildfire

GDACS alertGreen

CountryZambia

SinceOct 9, 2026

Tracked for15 days

Burned area34,892 ha · 86,218 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 9, 2026 — When tracking began · October 9, 2026

Satellite picture, Latest · October 23, 2026 — Latest · October 23, 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).

More: every wildfire page · all events

Wildfire near Chipata, Zambia

How the size is measured

Seen from space

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