12 fire pixels detected · FRP: 587 MW · ~1.7 km²
Geographic Context
This fire event occurred near Howick (approximately 8 km away) in South Africa, a region where fynbos vegetation, dry winters, and strong winds create a distinct and recurring fire season. An estimated 26.3K people live within 20 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 587 MW, indicating extreme heat output and rapid fire spread. Calamity.live has classified it as "critical" severity with a severity value of 70.719. The computed Calamity Score is 66 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: intensity (80), historical (80), cascading (70). 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.
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
| Type | Fire |
| Severity | critical |
| Severity Value | 70.719 |
| Calamity Score | 66 / 100 |
| Confidence | 84% |
| Coordinates | -29.4289, 30.1746 |
| Nearest City | Howick (8 km) |
| Population Exposed | 26.3K within 20 km |
| Impact Tier | significant |
| Timestamp | 2026-05-10T23:12:00.000Z |
Score Breakdown
Technical Details
| Brightness | 367 |
| Frp | 587.1899999999999 |
| PixelCount | 12 |
| Confidence | high |
| Area Km2 | 1.6800000000000002 |
Cascade Risks
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.
Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 66/100, near Howick (South Africa), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 196 scientific monitoring sources.