Good Sources
FireWatch is only one piece. Inform yourself independently — these are the official and open sources we trust ourselves. To us, transparency also means not making you depend on us.
What FireWatch itself uses — and why
Every map and every number here rests on open, official data. For two reasons: you can verify everything independently — and nobody can cut us (or you) off. And what we take, we give back openly.
EFFIS / Copernicus EMS
CC BY 4.0Where it lives: The fire-danger layer (Fire Weather Index) and active fires on all maps, plus the per-network danger notice.
Why this source: The official EU standard for wildfire danger — updated daily, Europe-wide, the same picture authorities work with.
NASA Worldview / FIRMS (VIIRS)
Public domainWhere it lives: The “Live from orbit” satellite section: daily images of current fire regions with thermal anomalies marked.
Why this source: Global, daily, public domain — the satellite sees active fires regardless of reporting chains and borders.
UFZ drought monitor (Helmholtz)
With attributionWhere it lives: The drought-timeline layer: soil moisture for Germany, monthly since 1950 up to today.
Why this source: Dry soil is one of the strongest precursors of high fire danger — and the UFZ soil-moisture index is the reference for Germany.
Sensor.Community
ODbLWhere it lives: The “air quality / smoke” layer: PM2.5 from thousands of citizen sensors, corroborating smoke as you zoom in.
Why this source: The big open citizen-sensor network — independent corroboration and the blueprint for our own open mesh.
OpenStreetMap & CARTO
ODbL / attributionWhere it lives: All base maps and the address search on our maps.
Why this source: The open map of the world — no dependence on commercial map APIs, no usage caps for small players.
FireWatch’s own sensors
CC BY 4.0Where it lives: Nodes, risk levels and raw readings on the map, the dashboard and the open API.
Why this source: We don’t just take: our own data flows back openly to everyone as JSON/CSV snapshots and a filter API.
It cuts both ways — our own data is open too: Open data & API →
Official EU early warning & situation
EFFIS — European Forest Fire Information System
The official near-real-time situation, danger forecast (Fire Weather Index) and burnt areas for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Part of the EU Copernicus programme.
forest-fire.emergency.copernicus.eu ↗GWIS — Global Wildfire Information System
The global counterpart to EFFIS: worldwide fire situation, emissions and long-term statistics.
gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu ↗Copernicus Emergency Management Service
The EU emergency service behind EFFIS: satellite mapping for fires, floods and more.
emergency.copernicus.eu ↗EU Civil Protection (ERCC)
Coordinates European assistance and the rescEU firefighting fleet.
civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu ↗Satellite & atmosphere data
Citizen sensor networks & open data
Weather & national
External links. FireWatch has no official affiliation with these bodies — we link them because they do good, open work. EFFIS/Copernicus data is licensed CC BY 4.0.