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Wildfires in Eastern Cape
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 09:19 UTC
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Fire history, 2012–2025
Detected · VIIRS S-NPP 375 m · 0.01° cells (~1.1 km) · complete years 2012–2025 · built 2026-09-23
Between 2012 and 2025, VIIRS detected fire in 67,920 km² of Eastern Cape at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 12,280 km², ranking 3rd of 9 regions of South Africa.
Year by year
Detected area per year, km². Area of 0.01° cells with at least one detection in the year.
The busiest year was 2024, with 18,780 km² detected; the quietest was 2015, with 9,000 km². The 2021–2025 average is 15% higher than the 2012–2016 average.
Through the year
Share of all fire-days 2012–2025 by month. A fire-day is one cell with a detection on one day.
July, August and September together hold 65% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 9 September 2023, with detections in 1,234 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 67,920 km² with at least one detection, 35% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 29,180 | 43% |
| 2 years | 15,040 | 22% |
| 3 to 5 years | 17,110 | 25% |
| 6 to 10 years | 6,210 | 9.1% |
| 11 years or more | 382 | 0.6% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -31.25, 29.75 and holds 8.5% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 12,770 | 14,493 |
| 2013 | 17,180 | 21,014 |
| 2014 | 14,260 | 16,943 |
| 2015 | 9,000 | 10,285 |
| 2016 | 9,060 | 11,082 |
| 2017 | 9,960 | 12,151 |
| 2018 | 9,040 | 11,078 |
| 2019 | 9,230 | 11,547 |
| 2020 | 9,620 | 11,555 |
| 2021 | 14,660 | 16,979 |
| 2022 | 9,460 | 10,768 |
| 2023 | 18,730 | 22,111 |
| 2024 | 18,780 | 22,993 |
| 2025 | 10,130 | 11,493 |
Other regions of South Africa
- KwaZulu-Natal21,840 km² in an average year
- Mpumalanga14,540 km² in an average year
- Limpopo9,110 km² in an average year
- North West6,130 km² in an average year
- Gauteng4,600 km² in an average year
- Free State3,910 km² in an average year
- How these figures are madeDetected area, cells, and the single-satellite record.
Detected area counts every 0.01° cell with at least one VIIRS detection, so a small fire counts as a whole cell and a fire missed by cloud or between passes is absent. Borders: Natural Earth 1:10m. 2012 begins on 20 January.
Nearby regions
- Qacha's Nek, Lesotho146 km
- Quthing, Lesotho198 km
- Mohale's Hoek, Lesotho221 km
- Maseru, Lesotho254 km
- Thaba-Tseka, Lesotho264 km
- Berea, Lesotho264 km