LIVE TRACKER · Wildfire
Wildfire Tracker: Live Active Fire Map, Satellite & Wind
Where are the world's wildfires burning right now?
Source: NASA EONET · raw heat detections on the map's fire layer · refreshes ~every 10 min
Wildfires move with the weather, which is exactly why LEV puts them on the same map as it. This hub is your live window: the larger named fire events are listed above, the raw satellite heat detections sit on the map's fire layer, and — uniquely — you can overlay the wind that decides where a fire goes next.
Open the live map, switch on the Fires layer, and every active heat detection from NASA's satellites appears as a glowing point.
What you are actually looking at
The dots on the fire layer are not photographs of flames. They are heat detections: each one is a spot where a passing NASA satellite (VIIRS or MODIS) measured a pixel far hotter than the land around it. Read them like this:
- More, tighter dots mean a larger or more intense burn — a wall of heat rather than a single hotspot.
- A fresh line of dots along a ridge or valley often traces an active fire front on the move.
- Brightness and fire power (how much energy the fire is throwing off) is what separates a smouldering patch from a major blaze.
For the full explainer, see how to track wildfires from space.
Named events vs. raw detections
The live list at the top of this page is the named events view — significant, ongoing wildfires that have been catalogued and can be tracked over time. The map's fire layer is the raw detections view: it lights up with small and newly-started fires long before any of them get a name. Use the list to follow the big stories; use the map to see everything that is burning right now.
The fusion view: fire plus wind
This is where LEV does something a plain fire map cannot. A wildfire's direction and speed are driven almost entirely by wind. With a fire on the map, picture the wind arrows streaming across it — the fire runs with the wind, fastest where the arrows are longest. That overlay turns a static dot into a forecast of which towns, roads and valleys lie downwind.
Pair that with satellite imagery and you can often see the smoke plume itself blowing downwind from the heat source — the same story told two ways.
Stay oriented
Fire conditions change by the hour. Keep this hub open during an active stretch, lean on the wildfire-from-space guide if the detections are new to you, and always defer to your official local fire and emergency service for evacuation orders and road closures. A satellite sees heat; it does not see the order to leave.
Frequently asked questions
How does a satellite detect a wildfire?
Polar-orbiting NASA satellites (VIIRS and MODIS) carry sensors that read heat in the infrared. When a pixel on the ground is far hotter than its surroundings, it is flagged as a likely active fire. Each pass produces a fresh batch of detections, so the map updates several times a day.
What is the difference between a fire detection and a named fire?
A detection is a single hot pixel from one satellite pass — it tells you something is burning there now. A named fire event is a larger, ongoing incident that agencies have catalogued and are tracking over days or weeks. The live list above shows named events; the map's fire layer shows the raw detections, including small and brand-new fires before they are ever named.
Why is a fire I know about not on the map?
Satellites only see a spot when they pass overhead and when clouds or thick smoke are not blocking the view. A small fire, or one under heavy smoke, can be missed on a given pass and then appear on the next one. Always treat the map as a near-real-time picture, not a complete one.
SEE IT LIVE
Everything in this guide is on one real-time map.