How Wildfire Watch works

What Wildfire Watch does

Choose a location and Wildfire Watch creates a place-based view of recently published wildfire evidence and relevant conditions. It combines publication-approved fire-service incident reports, recent NASA FIRMS satellite-detected heat sources, local weather, wind exposure, and the stated health and coverage of official sources.

The service is designed to make useful information easier to find and interpret. It does not turn incomplete evidence into certainty, and no single signal confirms whether a wildfire exists or whether a place is safe.

Check a location · Browse current incidents · Browse reviewed locations

Who it is for

Wildfire Watch is for anyone who wants earlier information about possible wildfire activity near a place that matters to them, including:

• Residents and communities checking conditions near their home or local area.
• Farmers, landowners and estate managers keeping an eye on land, livestock, crops, woodland and buildings.
• People responsible for businesses, venues or other sites who may need to review their plans when nearby conditions change.
• Outdoor workers, visitors and activity organisers checking an area before travelling or spending time outside.
• Community groups and local coordinators looking for a shared view of recently published information.
• People away from home checking on family, animals, property, land or a business from somewhere else.
• Second-home owners, holiday-home owners and landlords checking conditions near properties that may be unoccupied or managed from elsewhere, so they can review arrangements and contact local people when needed.

The service can help people stay aware and prepare. It does not replace instructions from fire and emergency services, local authorities or government agencies.

Choosing and monitoring a location

You can use your device’s location, search for a place or postcode, or choose a point on the map. The most recently selected location is remembered in this browser, so the same place can be shown when you return.

The wider monitoring area is checked for recent official incident reports and satellite-detected heat sources. The smaller warning area is used when deciding whether nearby evidence changes the current status.

You can adjust both distances above the map. A larger monitoring area checks farther away. The warning area cannot be larger than the monitoring area. A potential-wildfire group intersects the warning area when any of its member heat sources is inside it.

Understanding the current status

• Clear means no relevant official incident or recent satellite heat source was found within the monitoring area.
• Watch means relevant evidence was found within the monitoring area but outside the warning area.
• Warning means an active officially confirmed wildfire or potential wildfire intersects the warning area. Warning is based on available evidence and proximity; it does not prove that the selected location is in danger.

Three different kinds of signal

Current status describes nearby incident and satellite evidence. Fire-weather risk describes whether forecast conditions could help a fire start or worsen. Wind-exposure risk describes whether wind is blowing from nearby evidence towards the chosen location.

Each signal answers a different question. A low result for one does not cancel out a higher result for another.

Reading official reports and satellite evidence

Official incidents come from approved public fire-service sources. Follow the link on an incident to read the latest information published by the attributable source.

NASA FIRMS is a satellite service that identifies unusual heat at the Earth’s surface. Wildfire Watch checks those detections within the monitoring area. A detection can indicate a possible wildfire, but it can also come from controlled burning, industry or another heat source.

Satellites do not watch every location continuously. They pass overhead at intervals, and NASA must receive and process each observation before FIRMS publishes it. Cloud, smoke, a missed satellite pass, processing delays or a temporary connection problem can all make an update late.

Why a delay matters: when an update is delayed, Wildfire Watch continues to use the latest available FIRMS detections and current official incident reports. The status can still be Clear, Watch or Warning, but a recent heat source may not yet appear in the satellite information.

The map keeps official reports, interpreted potential wildfires and individual satellite heat sources visually distinct. Timestamps and age keys help show how recent the evidence is.

Accounts and future monitoring

The public information service remains available without an account. A Free account is available for saving one location for quicker manual checks; it does not enable automatic monitoring or alerts.

Paid Web monitoring, email alerts and Paid Mobile push notifications are planned but are not yet available to purchase. Compare the current and planned features on the membership page.

Important limitations

Official reporting varies between fire and rescue services. Satellite observations can be delayed, approximate, obscured or caused by heat sources other than wildfire. Weather indicators are estimates, not predictions of ignition or fire spread. Wildfire Watch does not fully account for distance, terrain, fuels or changing conditions.

An absence of official reports or satellite detections does not prove that no fire exists. Always consider the evidence alongside current official advice.

Who operates the service

Greener Systems Limited operates Wildfire Watch. Read Why Wildfire Watch?, or learn about the operator and service boundary, methodology, source coverage and correction process.