Overall Green Forest fire in The Democratic Republic of Congo from 22 Feb 2026 00:00 UTC to 02 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 (26444 ha) in The Democratic Republic of Congo 22 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 1027507
Countries:	The Democratic Republic of Congo
Start Date - Last detection*:	22 Feb 2026 - 02 Mar 2026
Duration (days):	8
People affected:	3458 in the burned area
Burned area:	26444 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.

25 Feb 16:00 26 Feb 00:00 26 Feb 12:00 26 Feb 16:00 27 Feb 12:09 27 Feb 16:02 28 Feb 12:03 28 Feb 16:37 01 Mar 12:06 01 Mar 16:06 02 Mar 12:06 09 Mar 20:16

Impact Timeline

ID	Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	861	11110	25 Feb 2026 15:00	GWIS
2	0.5	1005	11123	25 Feb 2026 23:00	GWIS
3	0.5	1005	11123	26 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
4	0.5	1268	16150	26 Feb 2026 15:00	GWIS
5	0.5	1297	16955	27 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
6	0.5	3429	21960	27 Feb 2026 15:00	GWIS
7	0.5	3450	22514	28 Feb 2026 11:00	GWIS
8	0.5	3453	23414	28 Feb 2026 15:00	GWIS
9	0.5	3456	25310	01 Mar 2026 11:00	GWIS
10	0.5	3456	25601	01 Mar 2026 15:00	GWIS
11	0.5	3457	25694	02 Mar 2026 11:00	GWIS
12	0.5	3458	26444	09 Mar 2026 19:00	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in The Democratic Republic of Congo , Region of Haut-Zaire (population 5,815,627) . The nearest places are Bumba, and Aketi.

Radius	Population
10 km	20000 people
5 km	13000 people
2 km	12000 people
1 km	9700 people
Burned Area	3500 people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Haut-Zaire	The Democratic Republic of Congo	5.8 million people
Equateur	The Democratic Republic of Congo	4.7 million people

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
Mokaria-Yamoleka		420	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3900	9 km
Bolila		390	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3900	28 km
Mombongo		450	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3200	45 km
Yalingimba		435	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3400	55 km
Engengele		390	Civ.	Unpaved	No	4100	65 km
Bumba	BMB	361	Civ.	Unpaved	No	5200	86 km
Aketi		375	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3100	96 km
Lokutu		370	Civ.	Unpaved	No	3000	109 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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