Free tools · Seen from space
Fire in Rand West City
Fire in the twelve months to October 2026: 598 fire detections seen from space; 2,594 ha burnt in the 7 of those months with burnt area out. The most since 2012: 2018, 870.
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
- 598Fire detectionsNovember 2025 to October 2026
- 2,594 haBurnt7 of the twelve months; the rest not out yet
Show the numbers
| When or what | Figure |
|---|---|
| November 2025 | 2 fire detections |
| December 2025 | 2 fire detections |
| January 2026 | 1 fire detection |
| February 2026 | 3 fire detections |
| March 2026 | 0 fire detections |
| April 2026 | 0 fire detections |
| May 2026 | 78 fire detections |
| June 2026 | 126 fire detections |
| July 2026 | 168 fire detections |
| August 2026 | 140 fire detections |
| September 2026 | 50 fire detections |
| October 2026 | 28 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 | 0.0 ha burnt (0.000% of the place) |
| February 2026 | 0.0 ha burnt (0.000% of the place) |
| March 2026 | 0.0 ha burnt (0.000% of the place) |
| April 2026 | 396 ha burnt (0.36% of the place) |
| May 2026 | 2,198 ha burnt (2.0% 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 | 28 | 25 | 34 | not out yet | · | · |
| September 2026 | 50 | 46 | 55 | not out yet | · | · |
| August 2026 | 140 | 136 | 134 | not out yet | · | · |
| July 2026 | 168 | 166 | 245 | not out yet | · | · |
| June 2026 | 126 | 124 | 202 | not out yet | · | · |
| May 2026 | 78 | 76 | 78 | 2,198 ha | 2.0% | 99% |
| April 2026 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 396 ha | 0.36% | 99% |
| March 2026 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 99% |
| February 2026 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 99% |
| January 2026 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 99% |
| December 2025 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 99% |
| November 2025 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.0 ha | 0.000% | 99% |
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
- 2018870 fire detections, most in June 2018
- 2012788 fire detections, most in May 2012
- 2023782 fire detections, most in June 2023; 10,672 ha burnt
By hectares burnt (whole years from 2019): 2024, 15,946 ha (14.3% of the place); 2021, 13,929 ha (12.5% of the place); 2020, 13,489 ha (12.1% of the place).
Every year since 2012
| Year | Fire detections | Burnt | Share of the place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (10 months) | 594 | 5 months out | · |
| 2025 | 618 | 9,759 ha | 8.8% |
| 2024 | 707 | 15,946 ha | 14.3% |
| 2023 | 782 | 10,672 ha | 9.6% |
| 2022 | 618 | 10,013 ha | 9.0% |
| 2021 | 740 | 13,929 ha | 12.5% |
| 2020 | 745 | 13,489 ha | 12.1% |
| 2019 | 740 | 12,915 ha | 11.6% |
| 2018 | 870 | 6 months out | · |
| 2017 | 749 | · | · |
| 2016 | 377 | · | · |
| 2015 | 698 | · | · |
| 2014 | 634 | · | · |
| 2013 | 581 | · | · |
| 2012 (11 months) | 788 | · | · |
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
- Ward 2 (Finsbury, Hillside)
- Ward 3 (Hillside AH, Randpoort)
- Ward 4 (De Fontein, Randgate)
- Ward 5 (Aureus, Government Village)
- Ward 6 (Randfontein, Green Hills)
- Ward 7 (Culemborgpark, Eikepark)
- Ward 8 (Bhongweni, Hectorton)
- Ward 9 (Robin Park)
- Ward 10 (Toekomsrus)
- Ward 11 (Finsbury)
- Ward 12 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 13 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 14 (Mohlakeng, Stesa AH)
- Ward 15 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 16 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 17 (West Rand AH)
- Ward 18 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 19 (Mohlakeng, Toekomsrus)
- Ward 20 (Toekomsrus)
- Ward 21 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 22 (Mohlakeng)
- Ward 23 (Glenharvie, Kloof)
- Ward 24 (Westonaria)
- Ward 25 (Westonaria, Wagterskop)
- Ward 26 (Westonaria, Waterpan)
- Ward 27 (Simunye)
- Ward 28 (Simunye)
- Ward 29 (Bekkersdal)
- Ward 30 (Etlebeni, Hillshaven)
- Ward 31 (Bekkersdal)
- Ward 32 (Bekkersdal)
- Ward 33 (Bekkersdal)
- Ward 34
- Ward 35 (Dennydale AH, Koksrus AH)
Places in each ward: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Everything we hold for Rand West City, 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.