Overall Green Forest fire in Ghana from 06 Jan 2026 00:00 UTC to 18 Jan 2026 00:00 UTC

GDACS is a cooperation framework between the United Nations, the European Commission and disaster managers worldwide to improve awareness, information exchange and coordination in the first phase after major sudden-onset disasters.

Forest Fire (5879 ha) in Ghana 06 Jan 2026

Event summary

This forest fire is expected to have a low humanitarian impact based on the burned area and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID	WF 1026891
Countries:	Ghana
Start Date - Last detection*:	06 Jan 2026 - 18 Jan 2026
Duration (days):	12
People affected:	73 in the burned area
Burned area:	5879 ha
More Info:	Global Wildfire Information System

*(Last detection of the thermal anomaly of the fire)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS score click here.

Detailed event map. European Union, 2026. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

13 Jan 04:08 15 Jan 16:13 16 Jan 16:14 17 Jan 04:18 17 Jan 16:16 18 Jan 16:17 21 Jan 20:23

Impact Timeline

ID	Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	71	5013	13 Jan 2026 03:00	GWIS
2	0.5	72	5185	15 Jan 2026 15:00	GWIS
3	0.5	72	5505	16 Jan 2026 15:00	GWIS
4	0.5	72	5538	17 Jan 2026 03:00	GWIS
5	0.5	73	5682	17 Jan 2026 15:00	GWIS
6	0.5	73	5785	18 Jan 2026 15:00	GWIS
7	0.5	73	5879	21 Jan 2026 19:00	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in Ghana , Region of Upper West (population 600,803) .

Radius	Population
10 km	5500 people
5 km	3400 people
2 km	1000 people
1 km	<1000 people
Burned Area	<1000 people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Upper West	Ghana	600000 people
Upper East	Ghana	1.1 million people
Sissili	Burkina Faso	310000 people

Affected populated places

see full list

Critical infrastructure

Airports, ports, nuclear plants and hydrodams at risk, if affected, are listed below.

Airports

Name	IATA Code	Elevation (m)	Usage	Runway type	IFR	Runway Length (ft)	Distance
Leo	XLU	unknown				0	52 km
Navrongo		207	Civ.	Unpaved	No	4500	79 km
Po	PUP	unknown				0	82 km
Zabre	XZA	unknown				0	95 km

Ports

Dams

Dam Name	River	Year	Distance
Tono	Tono	1977	70 km
Tiebele		1984	98 km
Vea		n/a	102 km

Nuclear plants

More information

For a full list of available products related to this event, please refer to the GDACS Resources page.

Disclaimer
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