Wildfires near Nigel

Fires near Nigel right now

NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 80 thermal hotspots in 15 separate clusters within 80 km of Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa in the last 24 h. The closest is 19 km NW of the city centre (6 km S of Brakpan), with 3 detections and a peak fire radiative power of 3 MW, which is low-intensity for a single 375 m pixel.

2 clusters are within 25 km, close enough that smoke, ash or road closures may affect the city. Distances are measured from the city centre to the nearest detection, not to the fire's edge.

Every nearby cluster is low intensity (peak under 10 MW), which is typical of agricultural or garden burning, industrial heat sources such as steel works or flares, or small fires rather than a spreading wildfire.

The largest nearby cluster by detections is 61 km E (10 km E of eMbalenhle) with 24 detections; first seen Sun 2 am and last seen Mon 1 am local time.

Across South Africa there are 112 fire clusters in the same window, 17 of them in Gauteng.

Smoke and wind

Wind at Nigel is from the NE at 5 km/h (gusts 9 km/h), so smoke near the city drifts toward the SW. Relative humidity is 69% and the temperature 15°C.

Nigel is not directly downwind of the nearest fire at the moment, though winds shift and plumes from larger fires can still reach the city.

Smoke shows up first as PM2.5 on air-quality monitors; the Nigel 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.

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.

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

• Wildfires near Brakpan
• Wildfires near Benoni
• Wildfires near Boksburg
• Wildfires near Etwatwa
• Wildfires near Tokoza
• Wildfires near Germiston
• Wildfires near Alberton
• Wildfires near Johannesburg

More for this area

• Fires in South Africa
• Air quality in Nigel
• Weather warnings
• Live wildfire map
• Wildfires worldwide