Is there a fire near Waterloo right now?
Wildfires near Waterloo, ON
Updated
8 fire clusters within 80 km; nearest 47 km ESE, 4 detections 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 Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, grouped into fire clusters, with the wind direction for smoke. Times are local (America/Toronto).
- Fire clusters within 80 km
- 8 last 48 h
- Nearest fire
- 47 km ESE 8 km N of Ancaster
- Hotspot detections nearby
- 65 VIIRS 375 m pixels, last 48 h
- Strongest fire radiative power
- 27 MW low-intensity
- Wind now
- SW 11 km/h gusts 15 km/h, humidity 46%
Fires near Waterloo right now
NASA's VIIRS sensors detected 65 thermal hotspots in 8 separate clusters within 80 km of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in the last 48 h. The closest is 47 km ESE of the city centre (8 km N of Ancaster), with 4 detections and a peak fire radiative power of 2 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.
The largest nearby cluster by detections is 61 km ESE (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 km N of Ancaster | 47 km ESE | 4 | 2 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sat 4:33 am |
| 4 km NNE of Ingersoll | 52 km SSW | 2 | 2 MW | Sat 4:33 am | Sun 4:11 am |
| 4 km ENE of Hamilton | 61 km ESE | 36 | 5 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 1:56 pm |
| 5 km NNW of Simcoe | 68 km SSE | 2 | 17 MW | Sat 2:13 pm | Sat 2:13 pm |
| at Delhi | 70 km S | 1 | 5 MW | Sat 2:13 pm | Sat 2:13 pm |
| 6 km NE of Oakville | 72 km E | 3 | 1 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 2:31 am |
| 6 km SSE of Simcoe | 78 km SSE | 2 | 27 MW | Sat 2:13 pm | Sat 2:13 pm |
| 17 km E of Simcoe | 80 km SSE | 15 | 13 MW | Sat 2:50 am | Sun 4:11 am |
Smoke and wind
Wind at Waterloo is from the SW at 11 km/h (gusts 15 km/h), so smoke near the city drifts toward the NE. Relative humidity is 46% and the temperature 18°C.
Waterloo 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 Waterloo 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.