Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 30

Large Wildfire

28d agoPuntarenasCosta RicaSource: firms

21 fire pixels detected · FRP: 92 MW · ~2.9 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Puntarenas (approximately 9 km away) in Costa Rica, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 49.0K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "significant" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a wildfire detected across 21 satellite thermal detection pixels, indicating an active fire zone. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 39.338. The computed Calamity Score is 30 out of 100, suggesting contained impact at this time. The primary scoring components are: intensity (40), population (40), historical (20). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

Costa Rica has a documented history of fire events. Wildfire activity in the region is monitored through NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), which provides near-real-time active fire data from MODIS and VIIRS satellites. Fire behavior is influenced by vegetation type, moisture content, wind patterns, and terrain — all factors that determine whether an initial ignition becomes a major event.

Event Data

TypeFire
Severityhigh
Severity Value39.338
Calamity Score30 / 100
Confidence58%
Coordinates9.8959, -84.8495
Nearest CityPuntarenas (9 km)
Population Exposed49.0K within 35 km
Impact Tiersignificant
Timestamp2026-03-16T23:57:34.168Z

Score Breakdown

40
intensity
40
population
0
cascading
20
historical

Technical Details

Brightness367
Frp91.69
PixelCount21
Confidencehigh
Area Km22.9400000000000004

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.

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

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Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 30/100, near Puntarenas (Costa Rica), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.