21 fire pixels detected · FRP: 79 MW · ~2.9 km²
Geographic Context
This fire event occurred near Emalahleni (approximately 5 km away) in South Africa, an area that experiences a range of natural hazards. An estimated 386.7K people live within 35 km of the event location, placing this in the "severe" population impact tier.
Event Assessment
This event is a wildfire detected across 21 satellite thermal detection pixels, indicating an active fire zone. Calamity.live has classified it as "high" severity with a severity value of 36.89. The computed Calamity Score is 39 out of 100, suggesting contained impact at this time. The primary scoring components are: population (70), intensity (40), historical (20). Data for this event was sourced from firms, one of the 250 scientific monitoring sources aggregated by Calamity.live.
Regional Monitoring Context
South Africa 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
| Type | Fire |
| Severity | high |
| Severity Value | 36.89 |
| Calamity Score | 39 / 100 |
| Confidence | 74% |
| Coordinates | -25.9099, 29.2427 |
| Nearest City | Emalahleni (5 km) |
| Population Exposed | 386.7K within 35 km |
| Impact Tier | severe |
| Timestamp | 2026-05-15T12:02:00.000Z |
Score Breakdown
Technical Details
| Brightness | 355.02 |
| Frp | 79.45 |
| PixelCount | 21 |
| Confidence | nominal |
| Area Km2 | 2.9400000000000004 |
Cascade Risks
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.
Calamity.live data shows a fire event with CalamityScore 39/100, near Emalahleni (South Africa), based on data from firms. Source: Calamity.live, a platform aggregating real-time data from 207 scientific monitoring sources.