Is there a fire near Redwood City right now?

Wildfires near Redwood City, CA

Updated

4 fire clusters within 80 km; nearest 27 km E, 2 detections in the last 48 h Latest satellite pass with a detection: Sun 2:56 am local (2026-10-25 09:56 UTC).

Live satellite fire detections within 80 km of Redwood City, California, United States, grouped into fire clusters, with the wind direction for smoke. Times are local (America/Los_Angeles).

Fire clusters within 80 km
4 last 48 h
Nearest fire
27 km E 4 km NW of Milpitas
Hotspot detections nearby
9 VIIRS 375 m pixels, last 48 h
Strongest fire radiative power
1 MW low-intensity
Wind now
NE 7 km/h gusts 7 km/h, humidity 52%

Open on the live map

Fires near Redwood City right now

NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 9 thermal hotspots in 4 separate clusters within 80 km of Redwood City, California, United States in the last 48 h. The closest is 27 km E of the city centre (4 km NW of Milpitas), with 2 detections and a peak fire radiative power of 1 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.

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 60 km N (at Martinez) with 4 detections; first seen Sat 3 am and last seen Sun 2 am local time.

Across United States there are 521 fire clusters in the same window, 44 of them in California.

Fire clusterFrom cityDetectionsPeak FRPFirst seenLast seen
4 km NW of Milpitas27 km E21 MWSat 3:15 amSun 2:56 am
5 km WNW of Richmond54 km NNW21 MWSat 3:13 amSun 2:56 am
6 km NNW of Morgan Hill60 km SE11 MWSat 3:15 amSat 3:15 am
at Martinez60 km N41 MWSat 3:13 amSun 2:56 am

Smoke and wind

Wind at Redwood City is from the NE at 7 km/h (gusts 7 km/h), so smoke near the city drifts toward the SW. Relative humidity is 52% and the temperature 20°C.

Redwood City 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 Redwood City 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; in this state also check CAL FIRE (fire.ca.gov/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.