WILDFIRE

Wildfire near Newcastle Waters, Australia

Latest update
Map: Wildfire near Newcastle Waters, Australia

GDACS has tracked this wildfire near Newcastle Waters, Australia since October 16, 2026, 5 days as of its latest update on October 21. It carries a GREEN alert: limited humanitarian impact expected. Satellites put the burned area at 66,249 acres (26,810 hectares, 268 km²), roughly 4.5 times the size of Manhattan, or about 50,189 American football fields.

TypeWildfire
GDACS alertGreen
CountryAustralia
SinceOct 16, 2026
Tracked for5 days
Burned area26,810 ha · 66,248 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 16, 2026
When tracking began · October 16, 2026
Satellite picture, Latest · October 21, 2026
Latest · October 21, 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?

Super Scoopers. Scooper planes skim across a lake to refill, taking on about 6,000 liters (1,600 gallons) of water in roughly 12 seconds without landing.

More: every wildfire page · all events

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