Wildfire near Kelar, Iraq (2026)

Wildfire near Kelar — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Kelar — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True view Fire view

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True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

The story so far

About 35 km east of Kelar.

Summary written on Jul 23, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning across Iraq, the active wildfire has consumed 100 hectares (247 acres) since it started on July 22, 2026. Satellites are currently picking up a moderate heat signature from the burn.

In the past 48 hours, monitoring systems have detected six heat signatures clustered near the active fire front.

In context

This wildfire burned in Iraq for 2 days. In total it burned about 100 ha (247 acres) — around 1.0 km². That size is an estimate from satellite hotspots, not a measured area.

In the Northern Hemisphere, wildfire activity usually peaks during the warm, dry months — roughly May through October.