Persistent heat source 120 km from Al Khafjī, Saudi Arabia
Right now
The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 8 minutes ago, and this point is not in it. We record detections, not passes: an absence is not proof that nothing is there.
7 other detections within 20 km in the last 24 hours, the nearest 17 km from here.
The satellite has seen heat at this spot on 23 earlier days since 10 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.
187 satellite detections of this fire · 12 September – 29 October 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 the town |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Oct 23:18 | 382 MW | 110 km |
| 29 Oct 22:33 | 250 MW | 109 km |
| 29 Oct 21:38 | 242 MW | 109 km |
| 29 Oct 21:38 | 399 MW | 107 km |
| 29 Oct 10:11 | 181 MW | 105 km |
| 29 Oct 09:11 | 172 MW | 105 km |
| 28 Oct 22:54 | 141 MW | 105 km |
| 28 Oct 10:28 | 462 MW | 109 km |
| 28 Oct 09:32 | 427 MW | 109 km |
| 27 Oct 23:12 | 202 MW | 110 km |
| 27 Oct 23:12 | 393 MW | 110 km |
| 27 Oct 10:47 | 139 MW | 113 km |
| 26 Oct 10:11 | 204 MW | 113 km |
| 26 Oct 10:11 | 146 MW | 112 km |
| 26 Oct 09:26 | 195 MW | 112 km |
| 25 Oct 22:52 | 176 MW | 112 km |
| 25 Oct 22:52 | 137 MW | 111 km |
| 25 Oct 10:28 | 775 MW | 111 km |
| 24 Oct 23:12 | 707 MW | 111 km |
| 24 Oct 22:27 | 552 MW | 110 km |
| 24 Oct 21:31 | 536 MW | 111 km |
| 24 Oct 21:31 | 657 MW | 111 km |
| 24 Oct 10:45 | 479 MW | 111 km |
| 24 Oct 10:04 | 224 MW | 112 km |
| 24 Oct 09:05 | 204 MW | 112 km |
| 23 Oct 22:46 | 121 MW | 112 km |
| 23 Oct 10:21 | 284 MW | 111 km |
| 23 Oct 09:26 | 249 MW | 112 km |
| 22 Oct 23:05 | 229 MW | 112 km |
| 22 Oct 22:10 | 123 MW | 110 km |
and 157 earlier detections
Recorded by satellite 45 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 70th strongest of the 203 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 10 March 2026. The last comparable one was on 12 September 2026. 22 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.
What the source measured
NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 6 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 188 MW, at high confidence, 120 km from Al Khafjī.
The 6 pixels cover about 0.8 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.
Nearby, since 10 March 2026
- March 12, 2026 · 0.1 km
- July 18, 2026 · 0.2 km
- August 31, 2026 · 0.3 km
How we know
One source: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Not yet confirmed by a second, independent source.
Our own score for this event is 27 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 “High” 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) | 27 / 100 |
| Legacy data-support index | 0.54/1 |
| Coordinates | 28.4955, 49.7127 |
| Nearest city | Al Khafjī (120 km) |
| Urban exposure index (PEI) | 0 within 20 km |
| Impact tier | minor |
| Timestamp | 2026-09-14T21:38:00.000Z |
| Source | https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@49.713,28.496,9z |
| 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: 2026-09-14T21:38:00.000Z.
First archived: 2026-05-31T10:56:13.237Z. Material modification: 2026-10-30T01:23:42.538Z.
Retained revisions are prospective; earlier versions may be unavailable. No revision entry does not prove that a record never changed.
Score breakdown
Technical details
| Brightness | 367 |
| Frp | 188.28 |
| PixelCount | 6 |
| Confidence | high |
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.
Review the area, threshold and delivery channel in your account.
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