Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 36 minutes ago, and this point is not in it. We record detections, not passes: an absence is not proof that nothing is there.

4 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 35 earlier days since 14 March 2026, in 6 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.

27 satellite detections of this fire · 17 – 24 September 2026

A satellite sees a burning fire on each of its passes. This page gathers every detection of this fire; the address of each one leads here.

Day and time (UTC)	Radiative power	Distance from Punta Cardón
24 Sept 06:40	686 MW	2 km
23 Sept 18:49	515 MW	1 km
23 Sept 18:49	977 MW	1 km
23 Sept 18:06	932 MW	2 km
23 Sept 17:09	884 MW	2 km
23 Sept 07:01	761 MW	2 km
23 Sept 06:03	599 MW	2 km
22 Sept 18:26	776 MW	2 km
22 Sept 05:38	443 MW	2 km
21 Sept 18:43	314 MW	1 km
21 Sept 18:43	838 MW	2 km
21 Sept 17:47	762 MW	1 km
21 Sept 06:40	474 MW	1 km
21 Sept 05:55	641 MW	2 km
20 Sept 18:06	951 MW	1 km
20 Sept 18:06	523 MW	2 km
20 Sept 07:01	544 MW	2 km
19 Sept 18:26	427 MW	1 km
19 Sept 18:26	940 MW	1 km
19 Sept 17:39	864 MW	1 km
18 Sept 18:43	936 MW	1 km
18 Sept 05:57	555 MW	1 km
17 Sept 18:17	423 MW	1 km
17 Sept 17:22	344 MW	2 km
17 Sept 07:12	206 MW	2 km
17 Sept 06:16	145 MW	3 km
17 Sept 05:31	121 MW	3 km

Recorded by satellite 46 days ago.

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 28th strongest of the 182 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 11 March 2026. Another comparable one was recorded here earlier the same day. 35 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 32 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 423 MW, at high confidence, 1 km from Punta Cardón.

The 32 pixels cover about 4.5 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: 268,903 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.

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

Archived as “Critical” under the rule in force until 4 October 2026, which read the radiative power and the people nearby. A satellite sees heat, not an emergency: since then every detection is shown as low or medium; this one as “Low”.

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	11.6697, -70.2156
Nearest city	Punta Cardón (1 km)
Urban exposure index (PEI)	268.9K within 35 km
Impact tier	severe
Timestamp	2026-09-17T18:17:00.000Z
Source	https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@-70.216,11.670,9z
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: 2026-09-17T18:17:00.000Z.

First archived: 2026-03-15T23:57:51.480Z. Material modification: 2026-09-23T09:12:23.477Z.

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

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	367
Frp	423.45
PixelCount	32
Confidence	high

Persistent heat source near Punta Cardón, Venezuela