Is there a fire near St. Catharines right now?
Wildfires near St. Catharines, ON
Updated
5 fire clusters within 80 km; nearest 8 km SE, 1 detection in the last 48 h Latest satellite pass with a detection: Sun 1:56 pm local (2026-10-25 17:56 UTC).
Live satellite fire detections within 80 km of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, grouped into fire clusters, with the wind direction for smoke. Times are local (America/Toronto).
- Fire clusters within 80 km
- 5 last 48 h
- Nearest fire
- 8 km SE at Thorold
- Hotspot detections nearby
- 59 VIIRS 375 m pixels, last 48 h
- Strongest fire radiative power
- 13 MW low-intensity
- Wind now
- SSW 8 km/h gusts 10 km/h, humidity 39%
Fires near St. Catharines right now
NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 59 thermal hotspots in 5 separate clusters within 80 km of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in the last 48 h. The closest is 8 km SE of the city centre (at Thorold), with 1 detection and a peak fire radiative power of 1 MW, which is low-intensity for a single 375 m pixel.
1 cluster is 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.
The largest nearby cluster by detections is 46 km WNW (4 km ENE of Hamilton) with 36 detections; first seen Sat 2 am and last seen Sun 1 pm local time.
Across Canada there are 77 fire clusters in the same window, 24 of them in Ontario.
| Fire cluster | From city | Detections | Peak FRP | First seen | Last seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| at Thorold | 8 km SE | 1 | 1 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sat 2:50 am |
| 4 km ENE of Hamilton | 46 km WNW | 36 | 5 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 1:56 pm |
| 6 km NE of Oakville | 47 km NW | 3 | 1 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 2:31 am |
| 8 km N of Ancaster | 61 km WNW | 4 | 2 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sat 4:33 am |
| 17 km E of Simcoe | 79 km WSW | 15 | 13 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 4:11 am |
Smoke and wind
Wind at St. Catharines is from the SSW at 8 km/h (gusts 10 km/h), so smoke near the city drifts toward the NNE. Relative humidity is 39% and the temperature 20°C.
St. Catharines 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 St. Catharines 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.
CIFFC (ciffc.net) publishes the national wildfire situation; provincial fire status and evacuation alerts come from Ontario Forest Fires (ontario.ca/page/forest-fires). Alertable and local emergency alerts carry evacuation orders.
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.