LowPersistent heat sourceCS: 18 · v5

Persistent heat source in Tunisia

TunisiaNASA FIRMS (VIIRS)

Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 5 minutes ago, and this point is in it.

Wind forecast for this point: from ESE at 31 km/h at 03:00 UTC, according to MET Norway.

One other detection within 20 km in the last 24 hours, <1 km from here.

The satellite has seen heat at this spot on 24 earlier days since 12 March 2026, in 7 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.

Distance and hazards
Only these hazards

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One message per event, not per detection. We send a confirmation first, and every message carries a link to stop them. We store the address and the place, nothing else.

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.

No stronger detection stands among the 16 recorded within 20 km of this point since 12 March 2026 — 4 others scored the same. The last comparable one was on 17 October 2026. 7 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 14 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 31 MW, at nominal confidence.

The 14 pixels cover about 2.0 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.

At this point we have recorded a radiative power between 17.18 MW and 66.94 MW, over 20 readings since 27 September 2026. Today's reading sits 27% of the way up that range.

How we know

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

Our own score for this event is 18 out of 100.

This is our versioned heuristic index, not source severity or a calibrated probability. Urban PEI does not count unique people.

Wind: MET Norway Locationforecast, CC BY 4.0.

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

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

TypePersistent heat source
SeverityLow
Calamity Score (ours)18 / 100
Legacy data-support index0.54/1
Coordinates33.8602, 12.0574
Timestamp2026-10-18T00:39:00.000Z
Sourcehttps://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@12.057,33.860,9z
LicenceUS 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: 2026-10-18T00:39:00.000Z.

First archived: 2026-08-11T03:17:42.708Z. Material modification: 2026-10-18T03:13:06.811Z.

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

  1. 2026-10-15T11:28:07.571Z · data change

    Index 9 → 18.

  2. 2026-10-15T11:22:48.154Z · data change

    Index 18 → 9.

6 retained revisions changed source fields this page does not show; the index, severity and version stayed the same.

Score breakdown

40
intensity
0
Urban PEI term
0
Scenario weight
20
Recorded reference / batch anomaly

Technical details

Brightness332.97
Frp30.78
PixelCount14
Confidencenominal

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.

Follow this area

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