AURSEEAursee
Wildfires in KwaZulu-Natal
Detected · VIIRS 375 m · Suomi NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21 · last 24 hours · updated 2026-10-12 08:29 UTC
Follow KwaZulu-Natal: fire alerts by email
4 fires
Nothing matches.
Fire alerts for KwaZulu-Natal
Free. One email when satellites detect fire anywhere in KwaZulu-Natal, then at most one update a day while fires continue.
Free. Pick a town and we email you when satellites detect fire within 30 km of it.
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 77,920 km² of KwaZulu-Natal at least once. In an average year it detected fire in 21,840 km², ranking 1st 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 2013, with 29,810 km² detected; the quietest was 2016, with 12,860 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.
July, August and September together hold 61% of the fire-days in the record. The single busiest day was 7 July 2024, with detections in 2,286 cells.
Ground that burns again
Of the 77,920 km² with at least one detection, 65% had detections in three or more different years.
| Years with a detection | km² | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year | 13,720 | 18% |
| 2 years | 13,470 | 17% |
| 3 to 5 years | 31,760 | 41% |
| 6 to 10 years | 18,050 | 23% |
| 11 years or more | 929 | 1.2% |
The half-degree square with the most fire-days is centred at -27.75, 31.25 and holds 4.6% of the region's fire-days.
The figures
Show the table
| Year | Detected km² | Fire-days |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 26,010 | 32,289 |
| 2013 | 29,810 | 37,305 |
| 2014 | 26,370 | 33,347 |
| 2015 | 15,150 | 19,328 |
| 2016 | 12,860 | 16,205 |
| 2017 | 20,200 | 25,365 |
| 2018 | 19,860 | 24,250 |
| 2019 | 25,640 | 32,889 |
| 2020 | 23,250 | 28,832 |
| 2021 | 23,820 | 28,847 |
| 2022 | 18,250 | 21,326 |
| 2023 | 23,430 | 28,448 |
| 2024 | 23,520 | 28,310 |
| 2025 | 17,530 | 20,219 |
Other regions of South Africa
- 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
- 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.