Is a "fire" one fire?

Not quite. It is one hot square, about 1 km across, seen on one satellite pass. A large fire can show up as many, and a fire that burns for days is counted each day. Because the method is the same every year, comparing weeks and years is fair.

Can it tell farm burning from wildfire?

No. Satellites see heat, not the cause. Most fires in savanna and farmland are lit on purpose to clear land or bring on new grass, so a busy week isn't always bad news. The map helps you tell whether fires are on farmland, rangeland or in forest.

How up to date is it?

NASA's seven-day file is refreshed through the day, so the answer includes fires from a few hours ago.

Can I use the answer in a report?

Yes, in reports, funding bids, meetings and on notice boards. Keep the line "Generated at TechnicalGIS.com" and the data credits. Each answer has its own link and is kept for 90 days.

How many fires were there this week, and is that more than usual?

Choose a district and we'll count the fires NASA's satellites saw there in the last seven days, set them against the same week in each of the last ten years, and map where they were. It takes under a minute, and the answer prints on one page.

1. Choose your district

Country

We count the fires seen in the last seven days and compare them with the same week in each of the last ten years.

Choose a country and a district first.

Usually ready in under a minute. Free, up to 15 new questions a day each; answers we've already worked out are instant and don't count. Privacy.

Choose a country to see its districts, then tap one to pick it.

District boundaries from geoBoundaries, simplified for the web.

See all the community tools, or Farm check for one farm.

How it works

This week. NASA FIRMS publishes every hot spot the MODIS sensors on the Terra and Aqua satellites see, within a few hours. We take the last seven days inside your district.
Usual. We count the same seven calendar days in each of the last ten complete years from NASA's yearly archive, and take the average and the range.
Season. We also show which month usually has the most fires, so you can see whether the burning season is early, late or on time.

Each count is a hot 1 km square seen on one satellite pass, so one big fire can count several times and small or short fires, or fires under thick cloud, are missed. That is the same every year, so the comparison holds.

You get a short answer with the big numbers, a one-page sheet to print, a text message you can copy or send on WhatsApp, and the figures as a spreadsheet (CSV).

Official sources

We check the satellite record. For warnings and advice, go to the people whose job it is:

NASA FIRMS Fire Map : the live fire map, updated through the day.
Global Forest Watch : fire and forest-loss alerts for forests and protected areas.

Data and credits

Licences checked on each provider's own page, last on 29 October 2026.

Source	Licence	Credit
NASA FIRMS MODIS active fires (Collection 6.1)	NASA open data, no restrictions on use	NASA FIRMS. We acknowledge the use of data from the NASA LANCE FIRMS (https://earthdata.nasa.gov/firms), part of the NASA Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). MODIS Collection 6.1 active fire product, https://doi.org/10.5067/FIRMS/MODIS/MCD14DL.NRT.0061.
geoBoundaries administrative boundaries	Per country (CC BY, ODbL or open government licence)	Runfola, D. et al. (2020) geoBoundaries: A global database of political administrative boundaries. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0231866.

Questions

Is a "fire" one fire?: Not quite. It is one hot square, about 1 km across, seen on one satellite pass. A large fire can show up as many, and a fire that burns for days is counted each day. Because the method is the same every year, comparing weeks and years is fair.
Can it tell farm burning from wildfire?: No. Satellites see heat, not the cause. Most fires in savanna and farmland are lit on purpose to clear land or bring on new grass, so a busy week isn't always bad news. The map helps you tell whether fires are on farmland, rangeland or in forest.
How up to date is it?: NASA's seven-day file is refreshed through the day, so the answer includes fires from a few hours ago.
Can I use the answer in a report?: Yes, in reports, funding bids, meetings and on notice boards. Keep the line "Generated at TechnicalGIS.com" and the data credits. Each answer has its own link and is kept for 90 days.

See real answers for real places, all the community tools or read what we're for. Need it for a whole region or every month? Talk to us.