Overall Green Forest fire alert in South Africa from 22 Jan 2024 00:00 UTC to 26 Jan 2024 00:00 UTC

GDACS is a cooperation framework between the United Nations, the European Commission and disaster managers worldwide to improve alerts, information exchange and coordination in the first phase after major sudden-onset disasters.

Forest Fire (9569 ha) in South Africa 22 Jan 2024

Event summary

This forest fire is expected to have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID	WF 1019131
Countries:	South Africa
Start Date - Last detection*:	22 Jan 2024 - 02 Feb 2024
Duration (days):	11
People affected:	241 in the burned area
Burned area:	9569 ha
More Info:	Global Wildfire Information System

*(Last detection of the thermal anomaly of the fire)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.

Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

26 Jan 09:16

Impact Timeline

ID	GDACS Score	Population Affected	Burned Area (ha)	Last Update	Source
1	0.5	241	9569	26 Jan 2024 09:00	GWIS
2	0.5	241	9837	26 Jan 2024 10:04	GWIS
3	0.5	245	11295	27 Jan 2024 09:00	GWIS
4	0.5	247	13485	28 Jan 2024 09:01	GWIS
5	0.5	247	14723	29 Jan 2024 09:00	GWIS
6	0.5	321	17961	30 Jan 2024 09:00	GWIS
7	0.5	321	18321	02 Feb 2024 09:01	GWIS
8	0.5	323	18953	03 Feb 2024 09:00	GWIS

Fires Joined

This event includes other close identified fires:

Exposed population

The forest fire happened in South Africa , Province of Western Cape (population 3,417,675) . The nearest places are Cape Town, Wellington, Paarl, Malmesbury, Worcester, Moorreesburg, Stellenbosch, Kraaifontein, Somerset West, and Strand.

Radius	Population
10 km	37000 people
5 km	23000 people
2 km	8900 people
1 km	1600 people
Burned Area	<1000 people

Affected Provinces

Region Province	Country	Population
Western Cape	South Africa	3.4 million people

Affected populated places

Name	Region Province	Country	City class	Population	Distance
Wellington	Western Cape	South Africa	City	-	26 km
Paarl	Western Cape	South Africa	City	190000 people	36 km
Malmesbury	Western Cape	South Africa	City	35000 people	37 km
Worcester	Western Cape	South Africa	City	130000 people	38 km
Moorreesburg	Western Cape	South Africa	City	-	54 km
Stellenbosch	Western Cape	South Africa	City	93000 people	60 km
Kraaifontein	Western Cape	South Africa	City	-	60 km
Somerset West	Western Cape	South Africa	City	180000 people	76 km
Strand	Western Cape	South Africa	City	-	80 km
Cape Town	Western Cape	South Africa	Major city	3.4 million people	84 km

see full list

Critical infrastructure

Airports, ports, nuclear plants and hydrodams at risk, if affected, are listed below.

Airports

Name	IATA Code	Elevation (m)	Usage	Runway type	IFR	Runway Length (ft)	Distance
Worcester		199	Priv.	Unpaved	No	5200	38 km
Somersveld		79				0	63 km
D F Malan	CPT	46	Civ.	Paved	Yes	10500	76 km
Ysterplaat	XYS	16	Mil.	Paved	No	5200	78 km
Robertson	ROD	195	Civ.	Paved	No	4900	84 km

Ports

Name	LOCODE	Country	Distance
Cape Town	ZACPT	South Africa	81 km

Dams

Dam Name	River	Year	Distance
Voelvlei	Vogelvlei	1977	13 km
Ceres	Koekedou	1981	16 km
Ottergat	Koekedou	1972	21 km
Eselfontein	Titus	1971	30 km
Brandvlei	Holsloot	1983	43 km
Lakenvalley	Sanddrifskloof	1974	44 km
Wemmershoek	Wemmershoek	1984	45 km
Stettynskloof	Stettynskloof	1984	47 km
Solomons Temple	Sandgat	1966	50 km
Moordkuil	Hoeks	1985	52 km
Waterfall	Olifants	1971	53 km
Keerom	Nuy	1981	58 km
Elands Kloof	Elands	1974	59 km
Inverdoorn	Doorn	n/a	71 km
Verkeerdevlei	Donkies	1989	72 km
Nuweberg	Palmiet	1971	73 km
Threewaterskloof	Sonderend	1980	73 km
Eikenhof	Palmiet	1977	78 km
Palmietriver	Palmiet	1952	84 km
Upper Steenbras	Steenbras	1980	84 km
Kogelberg	Palmiet	1984	86 km
Grootvlei	Klein Dwars	1969	86 km
Steenbras	Steenbras	1980	87 km
Somenrsfontein	Palmiet	1964	88 km

Nuclear plants

Nuclear power plants

Site	Type	Name	Country
Site-Koeberg	Nuclear Power Plant	Koeberg-1	South Africa
Site-Koeberg	Nuclear Power Plant	Koeberg-2	South Africa

More information

For a full list of available products related to this event, please refer to the GDACS Resources page.

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While we try everything to ensure accuracy, this information is purely indicative and should not be used for any decision making without alternate sources of information.
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