About firemap.us

Pulling from multiple data sources, this map was designed with legibility and performance in mind. Information on each of the datasets below.

Built every 10 minutes, the site is built using Jamstack architecture to reduce server response time and scale to handle influxes of traffic typical during a crisis.

Questions? Issues? UX feedback? Please let me know at info@firemap.us.

This site does not collect any personally identifiable information.

Built by Ruud Media.

  • Potential Fire Activity (GOES)

    Pulled from NOAA's GOES-19 (East) and GOES-18 (West) ABI-L2-FDCC fire/hot-spot characterization product. This is an estimate of current fire activity in the last ~30 minutes. Updated every 10 minutes. Both satellites must agree on a region for it to be shown — single-satellite detections are filtered out to suppress sun-glint and view-angle artifacts.

    Prone to false positives. Bodies of water, solar farms, and other energy infrastructure can cause false positives.

    This data is highly imprecise — it should only be used as an indication of possible fire activity.

  • Wildfire incidents (WFIGS)

    These incidents are sourced from and maintained by various agencies via the WFIGS feature service. They are split into "current" and "minor" groups based on whether the FireMgmtComplexity attribute is defined, in order to elevate larger incidents above small or unstaffed ones.

  • Wildfire perimeters (WFIGS)

    Perimeters are sourced from and maintained by various agencies. They update sporadically and reflect the most accurate confirmed fire and burn-area perimeters available.

  • Hotspots (VIIRS + MODIS)

    Collected every 12 or so hours by NASA satellites. Each dot represents a heat signature detected beyond various thresholds within the last ~48–60 hours.

    Prone to false positives. Energy infrastructure and other heat sources can cause false positives.

    This data is highly imprecise — it should only be used as an indication of possible recent fire activity.