Australian bushfire statistics
A live snapshot of bushfire activity across Australia, updated , plus historical trends as the archive builds. Figures come from satellite detections and official feeds; see the definitions below.
Right now
Most intense fire right now: NT — peak 1211.4 MW.
What these numbers mean
Active satellite fire
A recent cluster of satellite heat detections. Includes brief and faint detections, so the count is higher and noisier.
Significant fire
A fire that persisted across satellite passes or burned intensely enough to warrant its own page — brief, faint or likely-industrial detections are filtered out.
Official warning
A current warning or incident republished from a state or territory fire agency.
Mapped fire boundary
A fire or planned-burn area from the national near-real-time boundaries dataset.
History & trends
Fires by year
| Year | Fire events | Area burnt (ha) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27,516 | — |
Largest fires on record
| Fire | State | Area (ha) | Peak FRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| fire-northern-territory-2026-08-26-0fc888 | NT | — | 4197.2 MW |
| fire-northern-territory-2026-08-26-f8a513 | NT | — | 4165.1 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-22-59971e | WA | — | 3358 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-23-ac7e20 | WA | — | 3333.3 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-27-2a7a80 | WA | — | 3145.6 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-25-768efd | WA | — | 3145.6 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-25-38888f | WA | — | 3145.6 MW |
| fire-victoria-2026-09-21-ac8755 | VIC | — | 2998.7 MW |
| fire-victoria-2026-09-20-19f2dd | VIC | — | 2998.7 MW |
| fire-western-australia-2026-09-25-6a0e34 | WA | — | 2933 MW |
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an “active satellite fire” vs a “significant fire”?
An active satellite fire is any recent heat detection cluster. A significant fire is one that persisted across satellite passes or burned intensely enough to warrant its own page — a filter that removes brief, faint or likely-industrial detections.
How are the numbers calculated?
Satellite detections are grouped into fire events, de-duplicated across sensors and matched to official incidents where possible. Counts reflect the latest data snapshot; each figure shows how fresh it is.
Why can the totals change through the day?
New satellite passes add or clear detections, and fires are re-grouped as they grow or fade, so live counts move. Daily and historical figures settle once the archive is written.
What is FRP (fire radiative power)?
FRP, measured in megawatts (MW), is how much heat a fire is giving off at the moment a satellite sees it. Higher FRP means a more intense fire. We use the peak FRP across all detections of a fire as its intensity figure.
Do these numbers include every fire in Australia?
No. They cover fires large or hot enough for satellites to detect, plus incidents published by the agencies. Small or short-lived fires, and fires hidden by cloud or heavy smoke, may not appear.