Is there a fire near Charleston right now?
Wildfires near Charleston, SC
Updated
3 fire clusters within 80 km; nearest 26 km N, 14 detections in the last 48 h Latest satellite pass with a detection: Sun 3:34 pm local (2026-10-25 19:34 UTC).
Live satellite fire detections within 80 km of Charleston, South Carolina, United States, grouped into fire clusters, with the wind direction for smoke. Times are local (America/New_York).
- Fire clusters within 80 km
- 3 last 48 h
- Nearest fire
- 26 km N 14 km ENE of Goose Creek
- Hotspot detections nearby
- 17 VIIRS 375 m pixels, last 48 h
- Strongest fire radiative power
- 12 MW low-intensity
- Wind now
- NE 28 km/h gusts 44 km/h, humidity 55%
Fires near Charleston right now
NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 17 thermal hotspots in 3 separate clusters within 80 km of Charleston, South Carolina, United States in the last 48 h. The closest is 26 km N of the city centre (14 km ENE of Goose Creek), with 14 detections and a peak fire radiative power of 8 MW, which is low-intensity for a single 375 m pixel.
None of the clusters is within 25 km of the centre, so the city itself is not in the immediate fire area, but smoke can travel hundreds of kilometres.
Across United States there are 573 fire clusters in the same window, 9 of them in South Carolina.
| Fire cluster | From city | Detections | Peak FRP | First seen | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 km ENE of Goose Creek | 26 km N | 14 | 8 MW | Sat 2:54 am | Sun 4:16 am |
| 18 km WNW of Summerville | 52 km NW | 2 | 0 MW | Sun 2:33 am | Sun 2:33 am |
| 61 km SW of Myrtle Beach | 79 km NE | 1 | 12 MW | Sun 3:34 pm | Sun 3:34 pm |
Smoke and wind
Wind at Charleston is from the NE at 28 km/h (gusts 44 km/h), so smoke near the city drifts toward the SW. Relative humidity is 55% and the temperature 22°C.
Charleston is roughly downwind of the nearest fire, so smoke and haze are likely; check the air quality page before spending time outdoors.
Smoke shows up first as PM2.5 on air-quality monitors; the Charleston air quality page has the live reading.
Evacuations and official information
GodsView shows satellite detections only. It does not know fire perimeters, containment or evacuation zones. Always follow evacuation orders from local authorities.
InciWeb (inciweb.wildfire.gov) lists federal wildfire incidents. Evacuation orders come from county sheriffs and emergency management, often via Genasys Protect (protect.genasys.com) or local alert apps.
About satellite fire detections
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.
Fire radiative power (FRP) is the heat a fire gives off, in megawatts per pixel: under 10 MW is usually a small or smouldering fire, over 100 MW an intense flaming front.
Wildfires near other cities
More for this area
Data: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS active fires), Open-Meteo, GeoNames.