AU · Australia

Wildfire briefing: Australia

A short, quotable summary of the last 24 hours and of the season. Rebuilt every hour.

Data up to: 31 Oct 2026, 22:39 UTC

Probable fires in Australia in the last 24 hours: 134, with 6,625 heat detections from the VIIRS satellites (NASA FIRMS; latest detection: 31 Oct 2026, 19:25 UTC).

Fires with a WorldFires page still showing heat detections in the last 48 hours: 45.

Largest active fire: Mareeba fire, 8 October 2026, with 128,911 hectares burned — perimeter rebuilt from heat detections (Copernicus GWIS); latest heat detection: 31 Oct 2026, 16:07 UTC.

Australia is running below the usual for this point in the year, at 70 % of the average: 18,854,272 hectares burned up to week 43, against an average of 26,933,746 in 2012–2025 (Copernicus GWIS). GWIS estimates for the current year are provisional and may change.

Forecast fire danger for today near Roper Gulf: high (FWI 34), computed by WorldFires from the ECMWF IFS forecast.

Markdown

Suggested citation

WorldFires, “Wildfire briefing: Australia”, https://worldfires.org/en/country/australia/briefing (accessed 31 Oct 2026, 22:39 UTC). Sources: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), Copernicus GWIS, ECMWF IFS (Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0).

Licence CC BY 4.0: this briefing may be reproduced, including by the media, crediting “WorldFires (worldfires.org)” and the original sources.

Sources: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) · Copernicus GWIS · ECMWF IFS (Open-Meteo, CC BY 4.0)

A heat detection is not a confirmed fire: farm burning and industry also produce them, and clouds or smoke can hide a fire.

If you are in danger, call 000 and follow the instructions of the authorities. WorldFires is not an emergency service. Emergency number and official warnings ›

Wildfires in Australia today › Wildfires in Australia › Methodology ›