Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 57

Large Wildfire

75d agoBoksburgSouth AfricaSource: firms

34 fire pixels detected · FRP: 221 MW · ~4.8 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Boksburg (approximately 6 km away) in South Africa, a region where fynbos vegetation, dry winters, and strong winds create a distinct and recurring fire season. An estimated 4.0M people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "severe" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a significant wildfire detected by satellite with a fire radiative power of 221 MW, suggesting active, intense burning across multiple detection pixels. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 78.288. The computed Calamity Score is 57 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: population (100), intensity (60), historical (30). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 196 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.

Event Data

TypeFire
Severityhigh
Severity Value78.288
Calamity Score57 / 100
Confidence74%
Coordinates-26.2515, 28.3020
Nearest CityBoksburg (6 km)
Population Exposed4.0M within 35 km
Impact Tiersevere
Timestamp2026-06-15T12:21:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

60
intensity
100
population
0
cascading
30
historical

Technical Details

Brightness355.27
Frp221.44
PixelCount34
Confidencenominal
Area Km24.760000000000001

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 57/100, near Boksburg (South Africa), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 196 scientific monitoring sources.