Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 10 minutes ago, and this point is not in it. We record detections, not passes: an absence is not proof that nothing is there.

2 other detections within 20 km in the last 24 hours, the nearest <1 km from here.

The satellite has seen heat at this spot on 27 earlier days since 13 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.

22 satellite detections of this fire · 9 – 17 September 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 Bayjī
17 Sept 10:41	2,421 MW	49 km
16 Sept 23:22	885 MW	31 km
16 Sept 22:37	725 MW	31 km
16 Sept 11:02	1,749 MW	31 km
15 Sept 22:01	2,012 MW	33 km
15 Sept 22:01	729 MW	32 km
15 Sept 10:36	1,766 MW	33 km
15 Sept 09:41	1,735 MW	32 km
15 Sept 00:01	1,135 MW	32 km
15 Sept 00:01	1,575 MW	32 km
14 Sept 23:16	1,231 MW	32 km
14 Sept 22:20	993 MW	31 km
14 Sept 10:53	652 MW	31 km
14 Sept 10:53	1,789 MW	31 km
12 Sept 10:36	2,183 MW	47 km
11 Sept 10:56	2,123 MW	42 km
11 Sept 10:56	451 MW	34 km
11 Sept 09:13	1,812 MW	41 km
10 Sept 23:35	1,577 MW	42 km
10 Sept 22:50	1,294 MW	41 km
10 Sept 21:55	1,041 MW	40 km
9 Sept 22:14	952 MW	32 km

Recorded by satellite 47 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 18th strongest of the 214 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 12 March 2026. The last comparable one was on 15 September 2026. 67 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 86 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 1749 MW, at high confidence, 31 km from Bayjī.

The 86 pixels cover about 12.0 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.

Urban PEI: 80,278 within a heuristic 50 km radius; not unique people.

How we know

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

Our own score for this event is 59 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 “Critical” 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 “Medium”.

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	Medium
Calamity Score (ours)	59 / 100
Legacy data-support index	0.74/1
Coordinates	34.8924, 43.8270
Nearest city	Bayjī (31 km)
Urban exposure index (PEI)	80.3K within 50 km
Impact tier	severe
Timestamp	2026-09-16T11:02:00.000Z
Source	https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@43.827,34.892,9z
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: 2026-09-16T11:02:00.000Z.

First archived: 2026-05-14T00:00:02.830Z. Material modification: 2026-09-17T12:21:31.167Z.

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	1748.88
PixelCount	86
Confidence	high

Persistent heat source 31 km from Bayjī, Iraq