Overall Green Forest fire in Ethiopia from 20 Feb 2026 00:00 UTC to 03 Mar 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 (11968 ha) in Ethiopia 20 Feb 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 1027489
Countries:	Ethiopia
Start Date - Last detection*:	20 Feb 2026 - 05 Mar 2026
Duration (days):	13
People affected:	9 in the burned area
Burned area:	11968 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.

24 Feb 12:00 24 Feb 20:00 25 Feb 08:00 25 Feb 12:00 26 Feb 00:01 26 Feb 12:01 27 Feb 12:18 27 Feb 20:05 28 Feb 12:06 28 Feb 16:47 01 Mar 12:08 03 Mar 12:11 05 Mar 12:13

Impact Timeline

ID	Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	4	5669	24 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
2	0.5	9	9633	24 Feb 2026 19:00	GWIS
3	0.5	9	9730	25 Feb 2026 07:00	GWIS
4	0.5	9	9773	25 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
5	0.5	9	10464	25 Feb 2026 23:00	GWIS
6	0.5	9	10475	26 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
7	0.5	9	11009	27 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
8	0.5	9	11316	27 Feb 2026 19:00	GWIS
9	0.5	9	11345	28 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
10	0.5	9	11581	28 Feb 2026 15:00	GWIS
11	0.5	9	11581	01 Mar 2026 11:00	GWIS
12	0.5	9	11917	03 Mar 2026 11:00	GWIS
13	0.5	9	11968	05 Mar 2026 11:00	GWIS
14	0.5	9	12285	07 Mar 2026 19:00	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in Ethiopia , Administrative Region of Ilubabor (population 1,300,512) .

Radius	Population
10 km	59000 people
5 km	43000 people
2 km	2900 people
1 km	<1000 people
Burned Area	<1000 people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Ilubabor	Ethiopia	1.3 million people
A'ali an Nil	Sudan	1.2 million 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
Zhoushan		unknown				0	58 km

Ports

Dams

Nuclear plants

More information

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

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