Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 39

Large Wildfire

2d agoMumbwaZambiaSource: firms

24 fire pixels detected · FRP: 298 MW · ~3.4 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Mumbwa (approximately 18 km away) in Zambia, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 23.5K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "significant" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a significant wildfire detected by satellite with a fire radiative power of 298 MW, suggesting active, intense burning across multiple detection pixels. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 80. The computed Calamity Score is 39 out of 100, suggesting contained impact at this time. The primary scoring components are: intensity (60), population (40), historical (30). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

Zambia has a documented history of fire events. Wildfire activity in the region is monitored through NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System), which provides near-real-time active fire data from MODIS and VIIRS satellites. Fire behavior is influenced by vegetation type, moisture content, wind patterns, and terrain — all factors that determine whether an initial ignition becomes a major event.

Event Data

TypeFire
Severityhigh
Severity Value80
Calamity Score39 / 100
Confidence74%
Coordinates-15.0825, 27.1941
Nearest CityMumbwa (18 km)
Population Exposed23.5K within 35 km
Impact Tiersignificant
Timestamp2026-05-14T12:23:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

60
intensity
40
population
0
cascading
30
historical

Technical Details

Brightness367
Frp298.27
PixelCount24
Confidencehigh
Area Km23.3600000000000003

Safety Information

If a wildfire is approaching: follow evacuation orders immediately. Do not wait to see the fire. Close all windows and doors, remove combustible materials from around your home, and have an emergency go-bag ready. Air quality can deteriorate rapidly even at distance from the fire front — monitor local air quality advisories.

This data is aggregated algorithmically from scientific sources. Not a replacement for official emergency warnings.

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Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 39/100, near Mumbwa (Zambia), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.