Overall Green Forest fire in The Democratic Republic of Congo from 18 Jul 2026 00:00 UTC to 01 Aug 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 (52802 ha) in The Democratic Republic of Congo 18 Jul 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 1029621
Countries:	The Democratic Republic of Congo
Start Date - Last detection*:	18 Jul 2026 - 01 Aug 2026
Duration (days):	14
People affected:	1445 in the burned area
Burned area:	52802 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.

23 Jul 03:02 23 Jul 12:03 24 Jul 03:06 24 Jul 12:09 25 Jul 15:20 25 Jul 19:18 26 Jul 03:19 26 Jul 15:25 27 Jul 03:24 27 Jul 15:43 29 Jul 11:28 30 Jul 15:34 01 Aug 15:52 02 Aug 19:58

Impact Timeline

ID	Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	118	7203	23 Jul 2026 02:00	GWIS
2	0.5	118	7207	23 Jul 2026 10:01	GWIS
3	0.5	134	9066	24 Jul 2026 02:01	GWIS
4	0.5	134	9071	24 Jul 2026 10:01	GWIS
5	0.5	376	18493	25 Jul 2026 14:01	GWIS
6	0.5	423	23674	25 Jul 2026 18:01	GWIS
7	0.5	423	23823	26 Jul 2026 02:01	GWIS
8	0.5	434	23980	26 Jul 2026 14:02	GWIS
9	0.5	481	24446	27 Jul 2026 02:01	GWIS
10	0.5	481	24437	27 Jul 2026 14:01	GWIS
11	0.5	1402	52365	29 Jul 2026 10:01	GWIS
12	0.5	1444	52770	30 Jul 2026 14:01	GWIS
13	0.5	1444	52747	01 Aug 2026 14:01	GWIS
14	0.5	1445	52802	02 Aug 2026 18:00	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in The Democratic Republic of Congo , Region of Kasai-Oriental (population 3,322,019) . The nearest places are Katako-Kombe, and Bena Dibele.

Radius	Population
10 km	44000 people
5 km	41000 people
2 km	23000 people
1 km	7100 people
Burned Area	1400 people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Kasai-Oriental	The Democratic Republic of Congo	3.3 million people

Affected populated places

Name	Region Province	Country	City class	Population	Distance
Katako-Kombe	Kasai-Oriental	Democratic Republic of the Congo	City	16000 people	83 km
Bena Dibele	Kasai-Oriental	Democratic Republic of the Congo	City	-	116 km

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
Lodja	LJA	502	Civ.	Unpaved	Yes	5300	27 km
Katako'Kombe		603	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3200	84 km
Tshumbe		350	Civ.	Unpaved	No	4200	101 km
Dikungu		560	Civ.	Unpaved	No	4900	105 km
Beni-Dibele		530	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3200	113 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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