Overall Green Forest fire in The Democratic Republic of Congo from 18 Aug 2026 00:00 UTC to 02 Sep 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 (12181 ha) in The Democratic Republic of Congo 18 Aug 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 1031175
Countries:	The Democratic Republic of Congo
Start Date - Last detection*:	18 Aug 2026 - 02 Sep 2026
Duration (days):	15
People affected:	552 in the burned area
Burned area:	12181 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.

27 Aug 15:26 28 Aug 15:37 29 Aug 15:35 30 Aug 15:41 31 Aug 15:43 01 Sep 12:06 02 Sep 08:38 02 Sep 16:26

Impact Timeline

ID	Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	464	5210	27 Aug 2026 14:01	GWIS
2	0.5	481	6594	28 Aug 2026 14:02	GWIS
3	0.5	481	7067	29 Aug 2026 14:02	GWIS
4	0.5	530	8786	30 Aug 2026 14:02	GWIS
5	0.5	532	10647	31 Aug 2026 14:02	GWIS
6	0.5	552	11284	01 Sep 2026 10:01	GWIS
7	0.5	552	12167	02 Sep 2026 06:02	GWIS
8	0.5	552	12181	02 Sep 2026 14:02	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in The Democratic Republic of Congo , Region of Shaba (population 5,356,509) . The nearest places are Nyunzu, Kalemi, and Mbulula.

Radius	Population
10 km	19000 people
5 km	19000 people
2 km	19000 people
1 km	17000 people
Burned Area	<1000 people

Affected Provinces

Critical infrastructure

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

More information

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

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