Calamity
criticalFireCalamity Score: 62

Large Wildfire

9h agoSabieSouth AfricaSource: firms

34 fire pixels detected · FRP: 522 MW · ~4.8 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Sabie (approximately 4 km away) in South Africa, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 21.8K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "significant" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a large-scale wildfire with a fire radiative power (FRP) of 522 MW, indicating extreme heat output and rapid fire spread. Calamity.live has classified it as "critical" severity with a severity value of 86.20700000000001. The computed Calamity Score is 62 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: intensity (80), cascading (70), population (40). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

South Africa 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
Severitycritical
Severity Value86.20700000000001
Calamity Score62 / 100
Confidence84%
Coordinates-25.1314, 30.7554
Nearest CitySabie (4 km)
Population Exposed21.8K within 35 km
Impact Tiersignificant
Timestamp2026-06-09T12:34:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

80
intensity
40
population
70
cascading
40
historical

Technical Details

Brightness355.53
Frp522.07
PixelCount34
Confidencenominal
Area Km24.760000000000001

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 62/100, near Sabie (South Africa), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 197 scientific monitoring sources.