Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 12 minutes ago, and this point is in it.

Wind forecast for this point: from E at 21 km/h at 18:00 UTC, according to MET Norway.

3 other detections within 20 km in the last 24 hours, the nearest <1 km from here.

The satellite has seen heat at this spot on 53 earlier days since 9 March 2026, in 7 of the twelve months of the year. Heat that is there in every season usually comes from industry (a steelworks, a refinery flare, a gas field) or from routine burning, not from a wildfire. NASA's data do not say which.

Recorded by satellite today.

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 7th strongest of the 49 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 9 March 2026. Another comparable one was recorded here earlier the same day. 32 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 47 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 143 MW, at nominal confidence, 1 km from Secunda.

The 47 pixels cover about 6.6 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.

Urban PEI: 188,753 within a heuristic 35 km radius; not unique people.

How we know

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

Our own score for this event is 48 out of 100.

This is our versioned heuristic index, not source severity or a calibrated probability. Urban PEI does not count unique people.

Wind: MET Norway Locationforecast, CC BY 4.0.

Computed under scoring rules v5. Rows carrying other versions were judged by different rules and are not directly comparable.

Series begins 8 March 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.

Event data

Type	Persistent heat source
Severity	Low
Calamity Score (ours)	48 / 100
Legacy data-support index	0.74/1
Coordinates	-26.5476, 29.1560
Nearest city	Secunda (1 km)
Urban exposure index (PEI)	188.8K within 35 km
Impact tier	minor
Timestamp	2026-10-04T11:04:00.000Z
Source	https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@29.156,-26.548,9z
Licence	US public domain (NASA) · NASA FIRMS (LANCE)

Physical priority index · v5. Heuristic priority, not calibrated probability, predictive accuracy or damage. The legacy data-support index combines assigned source support and field availability. Urban PEI is distance-weighted and does not count unique people; zero does not establish that nobody is present. Model cards.

Source and revision timeline

Source: firms. Occurrence: 2026-10-04T11:04:00.000Z.

First archived: 2026-08-05T13:39:06.816Z. Material modification: 2026-10-04T13:22:57.583Z.

Retained revisions are prospective; earlier versions may be unavailable. No revision entry does not prove that a record never changed.

2026-10-04T13:22:57.583Z · model_change
Index 30 → 48; severity medium → low; version 1 → 5.

Safety information

Heat shows up at this spot regularly, which usually means an industrial plant or routine burning rather than a wildfire. Nothing on this page is an alert. In a real emergency, follow local authorities.

In the news nearby

A list of links found by GDELT for this place and this hazard in the last seven days. External, not ours: we have not read them and do not vouch for them.

No news is listed: GDELT was not available when this page was rendered.

GDELT Project · gdeltproject.org

Brightness	352.14
Frp	142.62
PixelCount	47
Confidence	nominal

Persistent heat source near Secunda