Wildfire map South Africa
Fires in South Africa right now
Updated
175 fire clusters detected in South Africa in the last 48 h Most active: 53 km N of Phalaborwa (69 detections).
Active fires in South Africa from NASA's VIIRS satellite hotspots, grouped into clusters and named by the nearest city.
- Fire clusters
- 175 last 48 h
- Hotspot detections
- 1,017
- Intense clusters (100+ MW)
- 0
- Most active fire
- 53 km N of Phalaborwa 69 detections
- Most affected region
- Limpopo 35 clusters
Active fires in South Africa
Satellites detected 1,017 thermal hotspots in South Africa in the last 48 h, grouped into 175 fire clusters. None reached an intense fire radiative power above 100 MW, which suggests mostly small or agricultural fires.
The most active fire is 53 km N of Phalaborwa with 69 detections and a peak of 59 MW, last seen Sun 2:32 pm local time.
By region, Limpopo has 35 clusters (385 detections), Mpumalanga has 40 clusters (214 detections), KwaZulu-Natal has 32 clusters (103 detections).
Fires are assigned to the country of the nearest listed city, so a fire close to a border can appear under the neighbour.
Largest fire clusters
| Fire cluster | Region | Detections | Peak FRP | Last seen (local) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 53 km N of Phalaborwa | Limpopo | 69 | 59 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 98 km NNE of Phalaborwa | Limpopo | 28 | 49 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| remote Limpopo, 245 km ENE of Thohoyandou | Limpopo | 42 | 25 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 12 km N of Phalaborwa | Limpopo | 40 | 25 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| remote Limpopo, 276 km ENE of Thohoyandou | Limpopo | 41 | 30 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 10 km ESE of Mokopane | Limpopo | 67 | 22 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 111 km NNE of Richards Bay | KwaZulu-Natal | 14 | 58 MW | Sun 2:29 pm |
| 38 km SSW of Richmond | KwaZulu-Natal | 10 | 60 MW | Sat 2:46 pm |
| 9 km E of eMbalenhle | Mpumalanga | 38 | 21 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 67 km NW of Polokwane | Limpopo | 20 | 22 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| remote Eastern Cape, 213 km WNW of Queenstown | Eastern Cape | 31 | 8 MW | Sat 2:46 pm |
| remote Northern Cape, 225 km SSW of Kimberley | Northern Cape | 26 | 8 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 136 km NNW of Soshanguve | Gauteng | 13 | 66 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 106 km W of Klerksdorp | North West | 4 | 48 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 105 km NNW of Klerksdorp | North West | 19 | 10 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 55 km NW of Soshanguve | Gauteng | 8 | 17 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 24 km S of Somaroboro | Mpumalanga | 8 | 52 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 106 km NNE of Belfast | Mpumalanga | 22 | 9 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 57 km NNE of Somaroboro | Mpumalanga | 10 | 12 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 7 km WSW of Middelburg | Mpumalanga | 20 | 11 MW | Sun 2:05 am |
| 106 km ENE of Phalaborwa | Limpopo | 14 | 8 MW | Sun 2:32 pm |
| 32 km SSW of Nigel | Gauteng | 4 | 22 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 44 km NNW of Brits | North West | 4 | 19 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 41 km WNW of Richmond | KwaZulu-Natal | 5 | 22 MW | Sat 2:49 pm |
| 11 km NNW of Benoni | Gauteng | 6 | 17 MW | Sat 2:24 am |
Cities with fires within 80 km
- Wildfires near Germiston nearest 2 km S
- Wildfires near Roodepoort nearest 3 km S
- Wildfires near Vereeniging nearest 3 km SSE
- Wildfires near Alberton nearest 4 km E
- Wildfires near Kroonstad nearest 4 km SSW
- Wildfires near Middelburg nearest 4 km ESE
- Wildfires near Sasolburg nearest 4 km NE
- Wildfires near Krugersdorp nearest 4 km E
- Wildfires near Polokwane nearest 5 km SSW
- Wildfires near Mbombela nearest 5 km NE
- Wildfires near Brakpan nearest 5 km S
- Wildfires near Emalahleni nearest 6 km WNW
- Wildfires near Vanderbijlpark nearest 6 km E
- Wildfires near Brits nearest 7 km ESE
- Wildfires near Pinetown nearest 7 km N
- Wildfires near Mokopane nearest 8 km ESE
- Wildfires near eMbalenhle nearest 8 km E
- Wildfires near Thembisa nearest 8 km ENE
- Wildfires near Welkom nearest 9 km NNW
- Wildfires near Soshanguve nearest 9 km SE
- Wildfires near Boksburg nearest 9 km WSW
- Wildfires near Evaton nearest 9 km S
- Wildfires near Tokoza nearest 9 km NNE
- Wildfires near Soweto nearest 9 km N
- Wildfires near Mabopane nearest 10 km ESE
- Wildfires near Phalaborwa nearest 10 km N
- Wildfires near Belfast, Mpumalanga nearest 10 km WSW
- Wildfires near Virginia nearest 11 km SSW
- Wildfires near Benoni nearest 11 km NNW
- Wildfires near Somaroboro nearest 12 km SSE
- Wildfires near Carolina, Mpumalanga nearest 12 km N
- Wildfires near Randfontein nearest 12 km NE
- Wildfires near Pretoria nearest 12 km N
- Wildfires near Johannesburg nearest 13 km ESE
- Wildfires near Richards Bay nearest 15 km NE
- Wildfires near Rustenburg nearest 15 km WNW
- Wildfires near Centurion nearest 15 km SE
- Wildfires near Randburg nearest 16 km SW
- Wildfires near Etwatwa nearest 18 km W
- Wildfires near Hammanskraal nearest 18 km SW
Official information
The Global Wildfire Information System, GWIS (gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu), maps fire danger and burnt areas worldwide; evacuation orders come from national civil protection and local authorities.
Satellite thermal hotspots are not all wildfires: gas flares, steel works, volcanoes and planned agricultural or prescribed burns show up too. VIIRS passes over most places about twice a day, so a fire can start or grow between passes, and thick smoke or cloud can hide one.
Fires in other countries
Related
Data: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS active fires), Open-Meteo, GeoNames.