Free tools · Seen from space
Fire in Dr JS Moroka
Fire in the twelve months to October 2026: 1,082 fire detections seen from space; 365 ha burnt in the 7 of those months with burnt area out. The most since 2012: 2023, 1,073.
Two readings from space. Fire detections are hot spots a VIIRS satellite saw as it passed, each about 375 m across, counted where they fall in the place: a big fire gives many, a short one between passes none. Burnt area is the ground that looks burnt afterwards, from Sentinel-3 at 300 m, in hectares. Neither is a fire report from the ground.
The last twelve months
- 1,082Fire detectionsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- 365 haBurnt7 of the twelve months; the rest not out yet
Show the numbers
| When or what | Figure |
|---|---|
| November 2025 | 1 fire detection |
| December 2025 | 0 fire detections |
| January 2026 | 3 fire detections |
| February 2026 | 6 fire detections |
| March 2026 | 0 fire detections |
| April 2026 | 11 fire detections |
| May 2026 | 4 fire detections |
| June 2026 | 106 fire detections |
| July 2026 | 616 fire detections |
| August 2026 | 172 fire detections |
| September 2026 | 79 fire detections |
| October 2026 | 84 fire detections |
| November 2025 | 0.0 ha burnt (0.000% of the place) |
| December 2025 | 0.0 ha burnt (0.000% of the place) |
| January 2026 | 28 ha burnt (0.020% of the place) |
| February 2026 | 4.9 ha burnt (0.003% of the place) |
| March 2026 | 76 ha burnt (0.054% of the place) |
| April 2026 | 245 ha burnt (0.17% of the place) |
| May 2026 | 11 ha burnt (0.008% of the place) |
| June 2026 | not out yet |
| July 2026 | not out yet |
| August 2026 | not out yet |
| September 2026 | not out yet |
| October 2026 | not out yet |
| Month | Detections | Nominal or high confidence | NOAA-20 (second reading) | Burnt | Share of the place | Land seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2026 | 84 | 63 | 80 | not out yet | · | · |
| September 2026 | 79 | 67 | 85 | not out yet | · | · |
| August 2026 | 172 | 156 | 229 | not out yet | · | · |
| July 2026 | 616 | 585 | 813 | not out yet | · | · |
| June 2026 | 106 | 100 | 94 | not out yet | · | · |
| May 2026 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11 ha | 0.008% | 98% |
| April 2026 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 245 ha | 0.17% | 98% |
| March 2026 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 76 ha | 0.054% | 98% |
| February 2026 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4.9 ha | 0.003% | 98% |
| January 2026 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 28 ha | 0.020% | 98% |
| December 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 98% |
| November 2025 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 98% |
NOAA-20 carries the same instrument as S-NPP and passes about 50 minutes apart, so its count is a second reading of the same fires, not extra fires. “Land seen” is the share of the place’s land the burnt-area product saw often enough that month to tell.
The worst years
- 20231,073 fire detections, most in August 2023; 16,851 ha burnt
- 2025772 fire detections, most in August 2025; 12,986 ha burnt
- 2024605 fire detections, most in July 2024; 11,434 ha burnt
By hectares burnt (whole years from 2019): 2023, 16,851 ha (11.9% of the place); 2025, 12,986 ha (9.2% of the place); 2024, 11,434 ha (8.1% of the place).
Every year since 2012
| Year | Fire detections | Burnt | Share of the place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (10 months) | 1,081 | 5 months out | · |
| 2025 | 772 | 12,986 ha | 9.2% |
| 2024 | 605 | 11,434 ha | 8.1% |
| 2023 | 1,073 | 16,851 ha | 11.9% |
| 2022 | 480 | 8,634 ha | 6.1% |
| 2021 | 285 | 5,270 ha | 3.7% |
| 2020 | 177 | 2,152 ha | 1.5% |
| 2019 | 321 | 6,717 ha | 4.7% |
| 2018 | 77 | 6 months out | · |
| 2017 | 590 | · | · |
| 2016 | 56 | · | · |
| 2015 | 338 | · | · |
| 2014 | 587 | · | · |
| 2013 | 471 | · | · |
| 2012 (11 months) | 94 | · | · |
Detections from February 2012 (S-NPP); burnt area from July 2018, so whole years of it from 2019. A larger place’s figures are the sums of its 2026 wards.
Each ward
- Ward 1 (Phaahla)
- Ward 2 (Maganaubuswa)
- Ward 3 (Siyabuswa)
- Ward 4
- Ward 5
- Ward 6 (Weltevreden)
- Ward 7 (Ramokgeletsane, Thabana)
- Ward 8 (Mapoch)
- Ward 9 (Kameelrivier)
- Ward 10 (Mabhoko, Waterval)
- Ward 11 (Makola)
- Ward 12 (Marothobolong, Matshiding)
- Ward 13 (Morwe, Pieterskraal)
- Ward 14 (Wolwekraal)
- Ward 15 (Kameelpoort, Kameelpoort-A)
- Ward 16
- Ward 17 (Allemansdrif, Vaalbank)
- Ward 18 (Allemansdrif)
- Ward 19 (Makometsane, Maphanga)
- Ward 20 (Bloedfontein, Senotlelo)
- Ward 21 (Ga-Matimpule, Koedoespoort)
- Ward 22 (Ga-Maria)
- Ward 23 (Marapjane)
- Ward 24 (Greenside, Marapyane)
- Ward 25 (Seabe, Terateng)
- Ward 26 (Loding, Moletsi)
- Ward 27 (Kalkfontein, Katsibane)
- Ward 28 (Lefifi, Magareng)
- Ward 29 (Mmametlhake, Mmantlole)
- Ward 30 (Phake Ratlagana, Phake Thabeng)
- Ward 31 (Masobe)
Places in each ward: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Everything we hold for Dr JS Moroka, on one page
Source
Seen from space by American and European satellites: not fires reported on the ground.
How we worked this out
What we changed: we counted FIRMS’s detections (presumed vegetation fires only) by the 2026 ward their position falls in, and summed CLMS’s burned fraction times each pixel’s area over each ward; municipalities, districts and provinces are the sums of their wards.
Fire detections: we acknowledge the use of data and/or imagery from NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), part of NASA’s LANCE (VIIRS 375 m, S-NPP and NOAA-20). Burnt area: generated using European Union’s Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information (Burnt Area 300 m version 4, DOI 10.2909/8fa58061-28ab-49bb-9b77-c26b50733e34), modified; this does not mean the European Union endorses us.
Dataset: burnt area and fire, release of 12 November 2026.