Satellite heat detections near Stellenbosch through fire season — the Jonkershoek and Helderberg mountains checked automatically, with the district fire service and disaster-management contacts.
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Stellenbosch sits under the Jonkershoek and Helderberg mountains — dry fynbos and pine plantations that burn every fire season. This reads NASA's satellite fire-detection feed for heat near town, checked automatically through the season.
The satellite saw heat 26 km west of town (across the wider Cape Winelands).
As of 31 July at 12:36. A detection appears about three hours after the satellite passes over, so this is the latest pass — not a live view.
| Where | Confidence | Heat | Detections | Latest pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 km west | Nominal | Faint | 1 | 30 July at 2:37 |
The satellite sees heat, not fire: a detection can be a wildfire, but also a controlled burn, crop or rubbish burning, an industrial flare or sun glint. It carries no fire name and no containment or evacuation status — for anything actionable, use the official channels below.
A satellite heat map, not an alert system
The dry, windy summer months are when fynbos and pine-plantation fires start and spread fastest — most years bring at least one significant fire in the mountains around town, and the Level 2 water restrictions in force since March 2026 mean the vegetation is drier than usual going into this season.
In February 2021 a fire in the Jonkershoek and Banhoek valleys, right behind the town, took more than 100 firefighters and aerial water-bombers days to bring under control. It is not a hypothetical risk — it is the mountain range residents look at every day.
NASA's satellites see heat, not fire names or containment status — a detection can be a genuine wildfire, a legal agricultural or fynbos-management burn, or (rarely) another heat source entirely. This page is an early sighting, not confirmation and not a warning in itself.
Checked 31 July at 12:36. Data: NASA FIRMS (VIIRS) — global near-real-time active-fire detections, 375 m resolution. FIRMS shows heat, not fires: it can pick up controlled and crop burns, flares and sun glint, and very new or cloud-covered fires can be missed entirely.