Calamity
criticalFireCalamity Score: 48

Major Wildfire

7d agoMbuji-MayiDR CongoSource: firms

52 fire pixels detected · FRP: 385 MW · ~7.3 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Mbuji-Mayi (approximately 41 km away) in DR Congo, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 379.5K people live within 50 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 385 MW, suggesting active, intense burning across multiple detection pixels. Calamity.live has classified it as "critical" severity with a severity value of 90.453. The computed Calamity Score is 48 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: population (70), intensity (60), historical (30). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

DR Congo 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
Severitycritical
Severity Value90.453
Calamity Score48 / 100
Confidence58%
Coordinates-5.9013, 23.8722
Nearest CityMbuji-Mayi (41 km)
Population Exposed379.5K within 50 km
Impact Tiersevere
Timestamp2026-06-18T11:32:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

60
intensity
70
population
0
cascading
30
historical

Technical Details

Brightness351.41
Frp384.53000000000003
PixelCount52
Confidencenominal
Area Km27.280000000000001

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 48/100, near Mbuji-Mayi (DR Congo), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 197 scientific monitoring sources.