WILDFIRE

Wildfire near Chitipa, Tanzania, Malawi

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Map: Wildfire near Chitipa, Tanzania, Malawi

GDACS has tracked this wildfire near Chitipa, Tanzania, Malawi since October 15, 2026, 14 days as of its latest update on October 29. It carries a GREEN alert: limited humanitarian impact expected. Satellites put the burned area at 50,889 acres (20,594 hectares, 206 km²), roughly 3.5 times the size of Manhattan, or about 38,552 American football fields.

TypeWildfire
GDACS alertGreen
CountryTanzania, Malawi
SinceOct 15, 2026
Tracked for14 days
Burned area20,594 ha · 50,889 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 15, 2026
When tracking began · October 15, 2026
Satellite picture, Latest · October 28, 2026
Latest · October 28, 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).

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