Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 44

Large Wildfire

28d agoPuntarenasCosta RicaSource: firms

22 fire pixels detected · FRP: 115 MW · ~3.1 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Puntarenas (approximately 8 km away) in Costa Rica, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 54.9K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "severe" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a significant wildfire detected by satellite with a fire radiative power of 115 MW, suggesting active, intense burning across multiple detection pixels. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 45.042. The computed Calamity Score is 44 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: intensity (60), population (55), historical (30). 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 Value45.042
Calamity Score44 / 100
Confidence58%
Coordinates9.9131, -84.8210
Nearest CityPuntarenas (8 km)
Population Exposed54.9K within 35 km
Impact Tiersevere
Timestamp2026-03-16T21:15:37.133Z

Score Breakdown

60
intensity
55
population
0
cascading
30
historical

Technical Details

Brightness367
Frp115.21000000000001
PixelCount22
Confidencehigh
Area Km23.08

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 44/100, near Puntarenas (Costa Rica), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.