Calamity
highFireCalamity Score: 43

Large Wildfire

3d agoHwangeZimbabweSource: firms

33 fire pixels detected · FRP: 54 MW · ~4.6 km²

Geographic Context

This fire event occurred near Hwange (approximately 10 km away) in Zimbabwe, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 28.6K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "significant" population impact tier.

Event Assessment

This event is a wildfire detected across 33 satellite thermal detection pixels, indicating an active fire zone. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 43.884. The computed Calamity Score is 43 out of 100, reflecting a moderate-impact event. The primary scoring components are: cascading (64), intensity (40), population (40). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.

Regional Monitoring Context

Zimbabwe 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.

Cascade Risk Analysis

This event may trigger secondary hazards through cascade effects. Cascade detection is an automated process that evaluates how primary disasters can trigger secondary events — for example, earthquakes triggering landslides, or volcanic eruptions causing lahars and pyroclastic flows. These secondary hazards can sometimes pose a greater threat than the initial event, particularly in mountainous terrain or densely populated areas.

Event Data

TypeFire
Severityhigh
Severity Value43.884
Calamity Score43 / 100
Confidence84%
Coordinates-18.4312, 26.4456
Nearest CityHwange (10 km)
Population Exposed28.6K within 35 km
Impact Tiersignificant
Timestamp2026-05-13T11:00:00.000Z

Score Breakdown

40
intensity
40
population
64
cascading
20
historical

Technical Details

Brightness336.45
Frp54.419999999999995
PixelCount33
Confidencenominal
Area Km24.62

Cascade Risks

cascade

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 43/100, near Hwange (Zimbabwe), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.