Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
NHESS
Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-3045-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-3045-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
Research article
 | 
01 Jul 2026
Research article |  | 01 Jul 2026

The long-term hazard cascade of an unprecedented wildfire in a tropical mountain ecosystem

William Veness, Martha Day, Anthony C. Ross, Yazidhi Bamutaze, Jiayuan Han, Douglas Mulangwa, Andrew Mwesigwa, Emmanuel Ntale, Callist Tindimugaya, Brian Guma, Elisabeth Stephens, and Wouter Buytaert

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Short summary
Climate change is driving wildfires to higher elevations in tropical mountains, exposing ecosystems with little or no fire history. We analyse a 2012 fire in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains that burned pristine forest and wetland above 3800 m, where no major fire had occurred for 12,000 years. The fire triggered a long-term cascade of floods, debris flows, landslides, erosion and mine-waste pollution, showing the need for rapid post-fire risk assessment and restoration.
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