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Data Sources

Fire plane dropping fire retardant over wildfire smoke

We believe wildfire information should be transparent and traceable. The maps, incident details, air quality, weather, and smoke information displayed throughout this site are sourced from trusted public agencies and official government data services.

We aggregate publicly available information to make wildfire conditions easier to understand, but the original data remains the responsibility of the agencies that publish it.

National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) / WFIGS

  • Fire locations
  • Fire perimeters
  • Containment percentages
  • Fire acreage

Wildfire incident and perimeter data is sourced from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) through the Wildland Fire Information and Geospatial Services (WFIGS) program. Most WFIGS datasets are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

InciWeb

  • Incident updates
  • Containment milestones
  • Incident news and public information

Official incident information is sourced from InciWeb, the federal interagency incident information system. InciWeb content is public domain information published by federal incident management teams.

AirNow (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

  • Air Quality Index (AQI)
  • PM2.5 concentrations

Air quality information is sourced from EPA AirNow and participating federal, state, local, and tribal air monitoring agencies.

Important: Air quality data displayed on this site is preliminary and has not been validated. Values are displayed as reported and are not altered.

National Weather Service (NOAA)

  • Wind speed
  • Wind gusts
  • Wind direction

Weather data is sourced from the National Weather Service (NWS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NWS weather data is in the public domain.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System (HMS)

  • Smoke coverage
  • Smoke density

Smoke analysis is sourced from the NOAA Hazard Mapping System (HMS), operated by NOAA's Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO). HMS smoke products are in the public domain.

Agency Disclaimer

Fireloop is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), InciWeb, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), or the National Weather Service (NWS). We use publicly available data from these agencies in accordance with their published terms and data-use guidelines.

Disclaimer

We strive to present official information as quickly and accurately as possible; however, wildfire conditions can change rapidly and source agencies may update information without notice.

Air quality data is preliminary and unvalidated. For emergency decisions, evacuation information, or life-safety guidance, always follow instructions from local emergency management officials and incident authorities.

We organize and display publicly available data to improve accessibility. Any visualizations, summaries, or derived information created by Fireloop are not official products of the agencies that provide the underlying data.