Right now

The most recent data we hold from NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) arrived 14 minutes ago, and this point is not in it. We record detections, not passes: an absence is not proof that nothing is there.

10 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 50 earlier days since 20 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.

Recorded by satellite 6 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 5th strongest of the 71 detections recorded within 20 km of this point since 10 February 2024. Another comparable one was recorded here earlier the same day. 40 more were recorded here in the fortnight before it.

What the source measured

NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) reported 128 fire pixels with a combined fire radiative power of 358 MW, at nominal confidence, 8 km from Gary.

The 128 pixels cover about 17.9 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: 1,564,471 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 57 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”.

Event Data

Type	Persistent heat source
Severity	Medium
Calamity Score (ours)	57 / 100
Legacy data-support index	0.58/1
Coordinates	41.6476, -87.2999
Nearest City	Gary (8 km)
Urban exposure index (PEI)	1.6M within 50 km
Impact Tier	catastrophic
Timestamp	2026-09-27T19:23:00.000Z
Source	https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@-87.300,41.648,9z

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: 2026-09-27T19:23:00.000Z.

First archived: 2026-09-28T00:02:56.378Z. Material modification: not recorded.

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.

Series begins 8 March 2026 for live collection; the monthly chart also counts backfilled detections from 10 February 2024. Collection gap: 14-26 August 2026.

This data is aggregated algorithmically from scientific sources. Not a replacement for official emergency warnings.

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	351.82
Frp	357.81
PixelCount	128
Confidence	nominal

Persistent heat source near Gary