Are there wildfires in United States right now?

NASA's FIRMS satellites detected 2746 active fire hotspots in the United States over the last 3 days, including 28 high-intensity fires. The map on this page shows their exact locations, updated hourly.

How does NASA detect wildfires?

NASA's VIIRS and MODIS instruments aboard the Suomi NPP, NOAA-20 and Terra/Aqua satellites detect thermal anomalies (heat signatures) from orbit. Each detection is a "hotspot" — a pixel where the sensor measured fire-level heat. Data is published within about 3 hours of the satellite overpass through the FIRMS system.

What does fire intensity (FRP) mean?

FRP (Fire Radiative Power, in megawatts) measures how much energy a fire is releasing. Higher FRP means a more intense fire. On this map, brighter red dots are higher-intensity detections.

Wildfires in United States Today

Name: Active Wildfires in United States
Creator: NASA
Published: 2024-01-01
License: https://www.nasa.gov/open/
Keywords: wildfires, fires united states, NASA FIRMS, active fire map, VIIRS

Live active-fire map for the United States from NASA FIRMS satellite data. Where fires are burning right now — updated hourly. Typical fire season: summer–fall.

2746

Active hotspots

High intensity

Time window

VIIRS

NASA sensor

LowMedHigh

Conditions at 16 km S of Yosemite Village, California

3 km/h from the WSW — carrying smoke towards the ENE.

15°C · 29% humidity

Air quality Extremely poor

PM2.5 247.7 µg/m³ this hour · EU AQI 143 · US AQI 371

Avoid outdoor exertion. Stay indoors with windows closed where possible.

The band above follows the European index, which averages particulates over 24 hours — so a sharp rise in this hour's PM2.5, as smoke passing overhead causes, shows up in the reading before it moves the band.

Wind direction only — not a smoke dispersion forecast. Air quality is modelled, not a street-level measurement. Weather from MET Norway; air quality from Open-Meteo (Copernicus CAMS). Both CC BY 4.0.

303 active fires in United States

Neighbouring detections grouped into single incidents, largest first.

1
16 km S of Yosemite Village, California
320 detections~7.7 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-19 11:10 UTC37.602, -119.607
3987 MW
2
76 km SE of Lewiston, Idaho
39 detections~39.7 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-18 21:12 UTC46.068, -116.171
2160 MW
3
Remote area
21 detections~17.2 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-18 19:28 UTC33.415, -91.370
1109 MW
4
Remote area
13 detectionslast seen 2026-09-18 08:09 UTC31.366, -85.770
866 MW
5
87 km SE of Lewiston, Idaho
7 detectionslast seen 2026-09-17 19:51 UTC45.957, -116.101
626 MW
6
Remote area
12 detections~2.3 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-18 19:28 UTC36.167, -89.921
581 MW
7
Remote area
11 detections~8.2 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-17 19:47 UTC32.528, -82.790
501 MW
8
Remote area
13 detections~2.9 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-18 19:28 UTC34.391, -90.933
402 MW
9
85 km N of Wichita Falls, Texas
34 detections~4.9 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-17 19:49 UTC34.663, -98.319
353 MW
10
Remote area
7 detections~2.1 km acrosslast seen 2026-09-17 19:49 UTC37.060, -97.632
345 MW

Plus 518 smaller heat detections — often agricultural burning rather than wildfire.

About this wildfire map

This map uses NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), which publishes active-fire detections from the VIIRS and MODIS instruments aboard NASA and NOAA satellites. Each dot is a thermal “hotspot” where the sensor measured fire-level heat, usually within 3 hours of the satellite passing overhead. It shows where fires are actively burning — not fire perimeters or evacuation zones. For safety and evacuation information, always follow your local emergency services.

Fires by region in United States

California Texas Oregon Arizona Colorado Montana Idaho Florida Nevada New Mexico Washington Utah Wyoming

Wildfires in other countries

Greece Spain Portugal Italy France Turkey Croatia Cyprus Albania North Macedonia Bulgaria Montenegro Germany United Kingdom Canada Mexico Brazil Argentina Chile Australia