#30DayMapChallenge: Fire

The Fire theme pushed cartographers to visualise one of the planet's most powerful and destructive forces. The results ranged from intimate portraits of single wildfires to sweeping views of global fire activity, all leveraging powerful public data to tell urgent stories. Here are five standout approaches:

5. Mike Peckham: Dixie fire in California
Mike visualised the staggering 963,309-acre perimeter of California's 2021 Dixie Fire using Mapbox GL JS with 3D terrain. His first-hand firefighting experience informs this powerful depiction of how extreme topography shapes mega-fires.

Mapped 2021 Dixie Fire perimeter in 3D with Mapbox GL JS | Mike Peckham posted on the topic | LinkedIn

For day 15, Fire, of the #30daymapchellenge I mapped the final perimeter of the 2021 Dixie Fire in 3D. It burned 963,309 acres over 104 days and is still the largest single source wildfire in California. You can quickly visualize just how steep and gnarly the terrain is thanks to Mapbox GL JS with 3D terrain. I was on the front lines of this one before shifting from fighting fires to working on the bigger picture in GIS and renewable energy. I wanted to animate the daily perimeter growth, but that historical #NIFC data now requires request access forms. Not too long ago you could just download it. The red tape keeps increasing right along with the size of our wildfires... #GIS #Wildfire #Geospatial #FireEcology #Mapbox #30DayMapChallenge

LinkedInMike Peckham

4. Alejandro Quinto Ferrández: A half-century of Spanish fires
Alejandro built an interactive dashboard analysing 55 years of Spanish wildfire data (1968-2023). This sophisticated web tool lets users explore fires through time with sliders, tracking incidents, burned area and human impact.

#30daymapchallenge #playabledatalab #30daymapchallenge2025 #dataviz #geospatial #gis #mapping #cartography #spain #wildfires #climatecrisis #environmentaldata #opendata #webgis #mapbox #leafletjs… | Alejandro Q.

🔥 #30DayMapChallenge – Day 15: Fire Since 1968, Spain has registered over 5,000 fires every single year. While digging through historical fire data in Spain, I found a file containing every fire recorded in Spain from 1968 to 2023 (I’ll leave the link for the data in comments)! So, for today’s challenge, I built an interactive tool that lets you: 🔥 Explore fires across time with a year-range slider 🔥 See the number of fires within that period 🔥 Analyse the impact (burned area, injuries, fatalities) 🔥 Identify the most affected municipalities during your selected timeframe Could we use tools like this to prepare better, act faster, and protect more? One idea I want to prototype next is mapping the nearest emergency infrastructure to major fires, a small step toward imagining a more informed, rapid-response system for the future? Would you find value in having this tool available? Comment “FIRE” if you want me to share the link and GitHub repo. #PlayableDataLab #30DayMapChallenge2025 #DataViz #Geospatial #GIS #Mapping #Cartography #Spain #Wildfires #ClimateCrisis #EnvironmentalData #OpenData #WebGIS #Mapbox #LeafletJS #GeoData #SpatialAnalysis #ClimateAction #DataForGood #InteractiveMaps #CreativeCoding #FireMapping

LinkedInAlejandro Q.

3. Juanchi Parra: Active fires and thermal anomalies in Brazil
Juanchi created a clear, immediate snapshot of active fires in Brazil using NASA satellite data and D3.js. Focusing on thermal anomalies from the past seven days, this minimalist approach prioritises timeliness and clarity.

2. Adam Symington: Global wildfires in 2024
Adam synthesised a full year of global wildfire data from NASA's FIRMS into a single comprehensive map. This Python-powered visualisation provides the essential macro-level perspective for understanding 2024's fire patterns.

1. MapCey Global: Fire activity
MapCey created a striking rotating 3D globe showing global fire hotspots from the past year. Using MODIS data and Mapbox GL JS, they transformed complex satellite information into an engaging planetary view. The glowing points effectively communicate fire intensity and distribution across continents.

Visualizing global fire hotspots with MODIS data | MapCey Global posted on the topic | LinkedIn

🔥 #30DayMapChallenge — Day 15: Fire Today’s map highlights one of the most critical global datasets: fire activity. We used MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data captured by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites — a powerful instrument that detects thermal anomalies, environmental patterns, and atmospheric changes at near-daily global coverage. MODIS data is publicly available via NASA FIRMS (Fire Information for Resource Management System).: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gefNKUTK For Day 15, MapCey Global built a rotating 3D globe using Mapbox GL JS, visualizing global fire hotspots reported over the past year with a glowing point style to emphasize intensity and distribution. 🔥 At MapCey Global, we continue contributing to the #30DayMapChallenge while actively handling multiple client projects — demonstrating our commitment to innovation and real-world geospatial solutions. 🗺️ 💼 Organizations and industries that rely on environmental and geospatial intelligence — including: 🔸 Fire hotspot & thermal anomaly monitoring 🔸 Smoke and air-quality assessment 🔸 Vegetation and forest health monitoring 🔸 Ocean color & coastal ecosystem analysis 🔸 Snow, ice, and cryosphere studies 🔸 Cloud cover & weather pattern visualization — can greatly benefit from custom web-based mapping platforms, dashboards, and real-time geospatial solutions. 👉 Contact MapCey Global to bring your ideas to life through customized Web GIS and mapping solutions. 📧 mapceyglobal@gmail.com 📞 +94 719913639 | +94 779213541

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Together, these maps form a powerful narrative: from historical analysis to real-time monitoring, and from local terrain to a global view, geospatial data is our most vital tool for understanding, managing, and responding to the challenge of fire in a changing world.