Is there a fire near Thembisa right now?

Wildfires near Thembisa

Updated

25 fire clusters within 80 km; nearest 8 km ENE, 3 detections in the last 48 h Latest satellite pass with a detection: Sun 2:32 pm local (2026-10-25 12:32 UTC).

Live satellite fire detections within 80 km of Thembisa, Gauteng, South Africa, grouped into fire clusters, with the wind direction for smoke. Times are local (Africa/Johannesburg).

Fire clusters within 80 km
25 last 48 h
Nearest fire
8 km ENE 10 km ENE of Thembisa
Hotspot detections nearby
109 VIIRS 375 m pixels, last 48 h
Strongest fire radiative power
52 MW moderate

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Fires near Thembisa right now

NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 109 thermal hotspots in 25 separate clusters within 80 km of Thembisa, Gauteng, South Africa in the last 48 h. The closest is 8 km ENE of the city centre (10 km ENE of Thembisa), with 3 detections and a peak fire radiative power of 1 MW, which is low-intensity for a single 375 m pixel.

3 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.

The largest nearby cluster by detections is 75 km SSW (4 km SSE of Vereeniging) with 17 detections; first seen Sat 2 am and last seen Sun 2 am local time.

Across South Africa there are 175 fire clusters in the same window, 20 of them in Gauteng.

Fire clusterFrom cityDetectionsPeak FRPFirst seenLast seen
10 km ENE of Thembisa8 km ENE31 MWSat 2:24 amSun 2:05 am
11 km NNW of Benoni12 km SSE617 MWSat 2:24 amSat 2:24 am
16 km E of Centurion18 km NE79 MWSat 1:10 pmSat 2:49 pm
4 km E of Alberton26 km SSW115 MWSat 2:24 amSun 2:05 am
6 km S of Brakpan35 km SSE33 MWSun 2:32 pmSun 2:32 pm
12 km N of Pretoria41 km N16 MWSat 2:49 pmSat 2:49 pm
at Roodepoort41 km WSW21 MWSat 2:24 amSat 2:24 am
4 km E of Krugersdorp42 km WSW526 MWSat 2:49 pmSun 2:05 am
15 km E of Brits49 km NW314 MWSun 2:32 pmSun 2:32 pm
10 km SW of Tokoza51 km SSW14 MWSun 2:32 pmSun 2:32 pm
15 km WSW of Tokoza52 km SSW13 MWSat 2:49 pmSat 2:49 pm
9 km SE of Soshanguve52 km N23 MWSun 2:32 pmSun 2:32 pm
7 km ESE of Brits54 km NW11 MWSat 2:24 amSat 2:24 am
48 km WNW of Emalahleni58 km ENE26 MWSat 1:10 pmSat 2:49 pm
12 km E of Evaton63 km SSW22 MWSun 12:22 amSun 12:22 am

Smoke and wind

Current wind data was unavailable for this page; smoke generally drifts with the wind, so check local conditions.

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

More for this area

Data: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS active fires), Open-Meteo, GeoNames.