Wildfires in Australia now
Live map of possible wildfires in Australia, as detected by satellites over the last hours. Today's fire danger comes from the EU's Copernicus service.
The map shows areas of about 10 × 10 km where satellites measured heat that probably comes from vegetation. These are not confirmed fires, and the data is up to about 3 hours behind.
The fire season in Australia
The season follows latitude: in the north the fire danger comes in winter and spring, in the south in summer and autumn. In New South Wales the bush fire danger period normally runs from 1 October to 31 March. Black Summer 2019–20 was one of the worst seasons on record.
Known large fires in Australia
- Australian fire season 2023–24 (2023): 1,445,372 km²
- Australian fire season 1974–75 (1974): 1,170,000 km²
- Australian fire season 2002–03 (2002): 540,000 km²
- Black Summer (2019): 240,000 km²
- Black Thursday (1851): 50,000 km²
- Black Friday (1939): 20,000 km²
- Australian fire season 2006–07 (2006): 13,000 km²
- Gospers Mountain fire (2019): 5,120 km²
Are you in Australia?
If you see fire or smoke that could threaten lives or homes, call 000. Always follow advice from the local authorities and your travel company. The map is not a warning system.