Calamity
criticalFireCalamity Score: 62

Major Wildfire

23d agoVang ViengLaosSource: firms

62 fire pixels detected · FRP: 859 MW · ~8.7 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Vang Vieng (approximately 42 km away) in Laos, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 4.2K people live within 50 km of the event location, placing this in the "minor" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a large-scale wildfire with a fire radiative power (FRP) of 859 MW, indicating extreme heat output and rapid fire spread. Calamity.live has classified it as "critical" severity with a severity value of 100. The computed Calamity Score is 62 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 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

Laos 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

TypeFire
Severitycritical
Severity Value100
Calamity Score62 / 100
Confidence84%
Coordinates19.2946, 102.4634
Nearest CityVang Vieng (42 km)
Population Exposed4.2K within 50 km
Impact Tierminor
Timestamp2026-03-21T05:01:29.536Z

Score Breakdown

80
intensity
25
population
70
cascading
80
historical

Technical Details

Brightness352.91
Frp859.14
PixelCount62
Confidencenominal
Area Km28.680000000000001

Cascade Risks

cascade

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 62/100, near Vang Vieng (Laos), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.