About the Australian fire map
How this map is built, which official sources it draws on, and what it can and cannot tell you.
What is Fire Map Today?
Fire Map Today is a free, continuously updated map of bushfires, grassfires and smoke across Australia. It brings satellite heat detections, official incident feeds from the state and territory fire services, fire danger ratings and a page for every significant fire into one place. It republishes public data and is not an official warning service.
Where the data comes from
Satellite heat detections come from NASA FIRMS (the VIIRS and MODIS sensors) and from Digital Earth Australia Hotspots (Geoscience Australia), which adds the Himawari geostationary satellite — that is why some Australian fires appear here within minutes rather than at the next polar-orbit pass.
Official incidents, their names, warning levels and status come directly from the state and territory services: NSW Rural Fire Service, VicEmergency (CFA/FRV), Queensland Fire Department, Emergency WA (DFES), SA Country Fire Service, Tasmania Fire Service, ACT Emergency Services Agency, NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services. Fire boundaries come from the Digital Atlas of Australia, fire danger ratings and total fire bans from the AFDRS feeds, air quality from state monitoring networks, and state, council and suburb boundaries from the ABS ASGS.
How fires are detected and grouped
Satellites measure heat as Fire Radiative Power (FRP), in megawatts. Detections close together in space and time are grouped into a single fire event with its own permanent page, so repeated satellite passes over one fire are not counted as many separate fires.
An event is matched against the official incident feeds where possible. When it matches, the page shows the agency incident name, warning level and status alongside the satellite data; when it does not, the page says so plainly and shows the detections on their own.
Fire danger ratings and total fire bans
Australia uses the Australian Fire Danger Rating System (AFDRS), which since 2022 has four ratings — Moderate, High, Extreme and Catastrophic — plus No Rating when conditions are benign. The rating describes how dangerous a fire would be if one started; it does not mean a fire is burning. A total fire ban is a separate legal declaration that prohibits lighting fire in the open in a given district on a given day.
How often the map updates
Polar-orbiting satellites pass several times a day; the Himawari geostationary feed updates far more often. The live map, the fire lists and the warnings refresh continuously as new detections and agency data arrive, and every day is archived so you can look back over a whole season.
Limitations — please read
Satellite detections are not verified on the ground and are not completely accurate. They can miss fires hidden by cloud or thick smoke, or fires that start and are contained between passes. They can also include heat that is not a bushfire at all: industrial sources, gas flares, burn-offs and agricultural burning.
Suburb and postcode boundaries are approximate, and distances shown are measured to the detected fire, not to a property. Never use this map for safety decisions. In an emergency call 000 and follow your state fire service and the ABC emergency broadcaster.
Who runs this
Fire Map Today is an independent project that publishes the same live fire picture country by country. It carries advertising to cover hosting and satellite data costs. It has no affiliation with, and no endorsement from, any government agency named on this page.
⚠️ Satellite detections are unverified. In an emergency call 000 and follow your state or territory fire service.