Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 30

Large Wildfire

32d agoHwangeZimbabweSource: firms

22 fire pixels detected · FRP: 60 MW · ~3.1 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Hwange (approximately 3 km away) in Zimbabwe, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 35.9K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "significant" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a wildfire detected across 22 satellite thermal detection pixels, indicating an active fire zone. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 34.08. The computed Calamity Score is 30 out of 100, suggesting contained impact at this time. The primary scoring components are: intensity (40), population (40), historical (20). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

Zimbabwe has a documented history of fire events. Wildfire activity in the region is monitored through NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), which provides near-real-time active fire data from MODIS and VIIRS satellites. Fire behavior is influenced by vegetation type, moisture content, wind patterns, and terrain — all factors that determine whether an initial ignition becomes a major event.

Cascade Risk Analysis

This event may trigger secondary hazards through cascade effects. Cascade detection is an automated process that evaluates how primary disasters can trigger secondary events — for example, earthquakes triggering landslides, or volcanic eruptions causing lahars and pyroclastic flows. These secondary hazards can sometimes pose a greater threat than the initial event, particularly in mountainous terrain or densely populated areas.

Event Data

TypeFire
Severityhigh
Severity Value34.08
Calamity Score30 / 100
Confidence58%
Coordinates-18.3885, 26.4893
Nearest CityHwange (3 km)
Population Exposed35.9K within 35 km
Impact Tiersignificant
Timestamp2026-03-13T11:47:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

40
intensity
40
population
0
cascading
20
historical

Technical Details

Brightness346.97
Frp60.400000000000006
PixelCount22
Confidencenominal
Area Km23.08

Cascade Risks

cascade

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.

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 30/100, near Hwange (Zimbabwe), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.