AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in Copperbelt
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 10:27 UTC
Follow Copperbelt: fire alerts by email
Fire alerts for Copperbelt
Free. One email when satellites detect fire anywhere in Copperbelt, 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 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 31,550 km² of Copperbelt at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 22,690 km², ranking 9th of 10 regions of Zambia.
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 2013, with 23,800 km² detected; the quietest was 2022, with 19,530 km². The 2021–2025 average is 6.1% lower than 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.
July, August and September together hold 82% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 23 August 2016, with detections in 1,026 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 31,550 km² with at least one detection, 99% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 178 | 0.6% |
| 2 years | 206 | 0.7% |
| 3 to 5 years | 1,490 | 4.7% |
| 6 to 10 years | 13,880 | 44% |
| 11 years or more | 15,800 | 50% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -12.75, 28.25 and holds 11% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 23,270 | 32,620 |
| 2013 | 23,800 | 34,341 |
| 2014 | 22,960 | 33,461 |
| 2015 | 23,360 | 33,695 |
| 2016 | 23,340 | 34,483 |
| 2017 | 22,350 | 31,269 |
| 2018 | 22,860 | 31,910 |
| 2019 | 23,190 | 33,199 |
| 2020 | 22,840 | 32,473 |
| 2021 | 22,410 | 31,013 |
| 2022 | 19,530 | 25,265 |
| 2023 | 23,260 | 33,158 |
| 2024 | 21,230 | 29,243 |
| 2025 | 23,230 | 33,703 |
Other regions of Zambia
- Northwestern82,900 km² in an average year
- Western77,200 km² in an average year
- Central59,410 km² in an average year
- Muchinga59,070 km² in an average year
- Northern43,770 km² in an average year
- Luapula32,860 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.