Calamity
criticalWildfireCalamity Score: 71

Wildfire near Kabwe

ZambiaNASA FIRMS (VIIRS)

Recorded by satellite 51 days ago.

A thermal anomaly is a snapshot of one satellite pass, not a record of a fire’s life: we cannot say whether it kept burning after that pass.

It is the 20th strongest of the 117 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 14 May 2026. The last comparable one was on 9 July 2026. 25 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 97 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 830 MW, at high confidence, 24 km from Kabwe.

The 97 pixels cover about 13.6 km² — that is the footprint of the detection grid at 375 m resolution, not an estimate of how much land burned.

FIRMS does not report burned area, and neither do we.

An estimated 147,411 people live within 50 km of this point.

Nearby, since 14 May 2026

How we know

One source: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Not yet confirmed by a second, independent source.

Our own score for this event is 71 out of 100, at 84 % confidence.

The score is ours, computed from intensity, exposed population and local history — not the source’s.

Event Data

TypeWildfire
Severitycritical
Calamity Score (ours)71 / 100
Our confidence84%
Coordinates-14.3422, 28.2520
Nearest CityKabwe (24 km)
Population Exposed147.4K within 50 km
Impact Tiersevere
Timestamp2026-07-10T11:19:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

80
intensity
70
population
70
cascading
40
historical

Technical Details

Brightness367
Frp830.43
PixelCount97
Confidencehigh

Cascade Risks

air quality emergency

Safety Information

If a wildfire is approaching: follow evacuation orders immediately. Do not wait to see the fire. Close all windows and doors, remove combustible materials from around your home, and have an emergency go-bag ready. Air quality can deteriorate rapidly even at distance from the fire front — monitor local air quality advisories.

Series begins 10 February 2026. Comparisons refer to that period only. Collection gap: 14-26 August 2026.

This data is aggregated algorithmically from scientific sources. Not a replacement for official emergency warnings.

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Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 71/100, near Kabwe (Zambia), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 191 scientific monitoring sources.