AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 13:28 UTC
Follow Democratic Republic of the Congo: fire alerts by email
Regions
- Bandunduno fires now
- Kasaï-Occidentalno fires now
- Kasaï-Oriental5 fires
- Katanga174 fires
- Kinshasa Cityno fires now
- Kongo Central5 fires
- Maniema8 fires
- North Kivu2 fires
- Orientaleno fires now
- South Kivu29 fires
- Équateur2 fires
4 fires
Nothing matches.
Fire alerts for Democratic Republic of the Congo
Free. One email when satellites detect fire anywhere in Democratic Republic of the Congo, then at most one update a day while fires continue.
Free. Pick a town and we email you when satellites detect fire within 30 km of it.
Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-21
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 1,489,010 km² of Democratic Republic of the Congo at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 898,730 km², ranking 1st of 200 countries.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2016, with 945,730 km² detected; the quietest was 2012, with 818,880 km². The 2021–2025 average is within 5% of the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
June, July and August together hold 60% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 30 July 2025, with detections in 24,250 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 1,489,010 km² with at least one detection, 91% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 74,950 | 5.0% |
| 2 years | 57,460 | 3.9% |
| 3 to 5 years | 193,290 | 13% |
| 6 to 10 years | 657,300 | 44% |
| 11 years or more | 506,020 | 34% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -3.25, 23.75 and holds 0.4% of the country's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 818,880 | 1,070,928 |
| 2013 | 887,200 | 1,239,321 |
| 2014 | 855,090 | 1,131,309 |
| 2015 | 907,170 | 1,271,930 |
| 2016 | 945,730 | 1,372,642 |
| 2017 | 892,260 | 1,237,460 |
| 2018 | 906,310 | 1,248,809 |
| 2019 | 906,170 | 1,260,727 |
| 2020 | 918,020 | 1,315,996 |
| 2021 | 920,190 | 1,300,674 |
| 2022 | 840,050 | 1,103,078 |
| 2023 | 909,470 | 1,282,762 |
| 2024 | 942,820 | 1,382,713 |
| 2025 | 932,830 | 1,358,482 |
Nearby countries
- Angola616,940 km² in an average year
- Zambia445,810 km² in an average year
- Mozambique404,050 km² in an average year
- Central African Republic340,550 km² in an average year
- South Sudan321,060 km² in an average year
- Tanzania263,100 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby countries
What sits behind each of these fires
Attached to every fire in the list above, and redrawn hourly.
