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Wildfires in Gauteng
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-11 10:26 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 15,170 km² of Gauteng at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 4,600 km², ranking 6th 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 2023, with 5,160 km² detected; the quietest was 2016, with 3,020 km². The 2021–2025 average is within 5% of 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.
June, July and August together hold 49% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 30 August 2013, with detections in 224 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 15,170 km² with at least one detection, 64% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 3,140 | 21% |
| 2 years | 2,360 | 16% |
| 3 to 5 years | 5,060 | 33% |
| 6 to 10 years | 4,080 | 27% |
| 11 years or more | 521 | 3.4% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -26.25, 28.25 and holds 22% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5,150 | 10,059 |
| 2013 | 4,970 | 10,218 |
| 2014 | 5,110 | 10,349 |
| 2015 | 4,470 | 9,366 |
| 2016 | 3,020 | 6,841 |
| 2017 | 4,840 | 9,386 |
| 2018 | 4,820 | 9,288 |
| 2019 | 4,650 | 8,799 |
| 2020 | 4,430 | 7,511 |
| 2021 | 4,930 | 8,517 |
| 2022 | 4,300 | 7,340 |
| 2023 | 5,160 | 9,292 |
| 2024 | 4,700 | 8,159 |
| 2025 | 3,810 | 6,400 |
Other regions of South Africa
- KwaZulu-Natal21,840 km² in an average year
- Mpumalanga14,540 km² in an average year
- Eastern Cape12,280 km² in an average year
- Limpopo9,110 km² in an average year
- North West6,130 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
- Free State74 km
- North West74 km
- Mpumalanga99 km
- Limpopo260 km
- Kgatleng, Botswana268 km
- Leribe, Lesotho277 km