Tracking active wildfire perimeters across the western United States and Alaska is available through the Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) Fire Map, which provides near real-time wildfire activity and satellite data. Users can view active incidents, official IRWIN incident records, and federal FEDS perimeters that include containment status and growth tracking.
Fires shown on the platform are detected by satellites including NASA FIRMS (VIIRS, MODIS, and Landsat) alongside NOAA’s GOES geostationary satellites. These detections are confirmed by Satellites on Fire, an artificial intelligence system that verifies wildfire detections from the satellites. The National Weather Service and NOAA's Storm Prediction Center supply fire-weather forecasts and Red Flag Warnings to the platform.
Map Features and Detection Layers
The mapping tool compiles multiple detection layers that users can toggle. Available data includes live 911 dispatch calls for medical, fire, and other emergencies through PulsePoint, as well as smoke and lightning observations with short-range forecasts. The platform also integrates live fire cameras from partner networks, ALERTWest, and ALERTCalifornia.
Multi-satellite heat detection combines polar-orbiting thermal sensors from Landsat, MODIS, and VIIRS with geostationary GOES ABI sensors featuring a 5-minute refresh. The system incorporates AI-confirmed detections that fuse multiple inputs for higher resolution, alongside satellite imagery such as GOES GeoColor true-color and VIIRS Fire Bands composites for visual confirmation of smoke and active fire.
Aircraft Tracking and Weather Context
The map displays live firefighting aircraft, including reconnaissance units, helicopters, and tankers, which are filtered to a maintained allowlist of wildfire-tasked tail numbers. Fire-weather context is provided through wind, humidity, Red Flag warnings, and Storm Prediction Center outlooks.
Every layer on the interface is color-coded by recency and confidence, linking directly to incident detail panels that contain live conditions, growth history, and dispatch information. Users can utilize deep links for any viewport, fire, or state to bookmark or share URLs that open to the identical view.
