Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 21 minutes ago, and this point is not in it. We record detections, not passes: an absence is not proof that nothing is there.

6 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.

189 satellite detections of this fire · 12 September – 30 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
30 Oct 09:49	564 MW	110 km
30 Oct 08:54	543 MW	110 km
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

and 159 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 72nd strongest of the 205 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.

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: 2026-10-30T12:02:55.057Z.

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	188.28
PixelCount	6
Confidence	high

Persistent heat source 120 km from Al Khafjī, Saudi Arabia