Calamity
CriticalWildfiresCalamity Score: 64

Wildfires in Iraq

IraqNASA FIRMS (VIIRS)

Recorded by satellite today.

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 42nd strongest of the 211 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 12 March 2026. The last comparable one was on 1 September 2026.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 197 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 2907 MW, at high confidence, 33 km from Az Zubayr.

The 197 pixels cover about 27.6 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.

An estimated 457,247 people live within 50 km of this point.

Wind from NW at 33 km/h at 14:00 UTC, according to MET Norway.

Nearby, since 12 March 2026

How we know

One source: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS). Not yet confirmed by a second, independent source.

Our own score for this event is 64 out of 100, at 74 % confidence.

The score is ours, computed from intensity, exposed population and local history — not the source’s.

Wind: MET Norway Locationforecast, CC BY 4.0.

Computed under scoring rules v4. Rows carrying other versions were judged by different rules and are not directly comparable.

Event Data

TypeWildfires
SeverityCritical
Calamity Score (ours)64 / 100
Our confidence74%
Coordinates30.4274, 47.3541
Nearest CityAz Zubayr (33 km)
Population Exposed457.2K within 50 km
Impact Tiersevere
Timestamp2026-09-02T09:37:00.000Z
Sourcehttps://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@47.354,30.427,9z

Score Breakdown

95
intensity
70
population
0
cascading
48
historical

Technical Details

Brightness367
Frp2907.39
PixelCount197
Confidencehigh

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.

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.

Want to know when something happens in this area?

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.

GDELT did not answer when this page was rendered, so no news is listed.

GDELT Project · gdeltproject.org

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Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 64/100 (Iraq), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 185 scientific monitoring sources.