Near Real-Time Bushfire Extents

View Map in ArcGIS OFFICIAL Important: Our technical support team is available to assist you during business hours only. Please keep in mind that we can only address technical difficulties during these hours. When using the product to make decisions, please take this into consideration. Abstract This spatial product shows ‘near real-time’ bushfire and prescribed burn extents for all jurisdictions who have the technical ability or appropriate licence conditions to provide this information into a national product. This is a scientific product and should not be used for safety of life decisions. Please refer to jurisdictional emergency response agencies for incident warnings and information. Currency Date Created: October 2025 Modification Frequency: Every 15 Minutes Data Extent Coordinate Reference: WGS84 Spatial Extent North: -9° South: -44° East: 154° West: 112° Source information Previous project teams identified source data through jurisdictional websites and the Emergency Management LINK catalogue. Sources for the current iteration of this dataset have been confirmed by each jurisdiction through the Emergency Management Spatial Information Network (EMSINA) National and EMSINA Developers networks. This Webservice contains authoritative data sourced from: Australian Capital Territory - Emergency Service Agency (ESA) New South Wales - Rural Fire Service (RFS) Queensland - Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) South Australia - Country Fire Service (CFS) Tasmania - Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) Victoria – Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) Western Australia – Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) This webservice does not contain data from: Northern Territory – Bushfires NT Known Limitations: This dataset does not contain information from the Northern Territory Government. This dataset contains a subset of the Queensland bushfire boundary data. The Queensland ‘Operational’ feed that is consumed within this National Database displays the last six (6) months of incident boundaries. In order to make this dataset best represent a ‘near real-time’ or current view of operational bushfire boundaries, Geoscience Australia has filtered the Queensland data to only incorporate the last one (1) week’s data. Geoscience Australia is aware that duplicate data (features) may appear within this dataset. This duplicate data is commonly represented in the regions around state borders where it is operationally necessary for one jurisdiction to understand cross border situations. Care must be taken when summing the values to obtain a total area burnt. The data within this aggregated national product is a spatial representation of the input data received from the custodian agencies. Therefore, data quality and data completion will vary. If you wish to assess more information about specific jurisdictional data and/or data feature(s) it is strongly recommended that you contact the appropriate custodian. The accuracy of the data attributes within this webservice is reliant on each jurisdictional source and the information they elect to publish into their Operational Bushfire Boundary webservices. Attribute Accuracy: The accuracy of the data attributes within this webservice is reliant on each jurisdictional source and the information they elect to publish into their Operational/Going Bushfire Boundary webservices. Data Completeness: The completeness of the data within this webservice is reliant on each jurisdictional source and the information they elect to publish into their Operational/Going Bushfire boundary webservices. In the case of Queensland’s data contribution: Please see the ‘Known Limitations’ section for full details. Schema: The following schema table covers all the core data fields: Note: Geoscience Australia has, where possible, attempted to align the data to the National Current Incident Extent Feeds Data Dictionary. However, this has not been possible in all cases. Geoscience Australia has not included attributes added automatically by spatial software processes in the table below. Catalog entry: National Bushfire Extents - Near Real-Time Lineage statement Versions 1 and 2 (2019/20): This dataset was first built by EMSINA, Geoscience Australia, and Esri Australia staff in early January 2020 in response to the Black Summer Bushfires. The product was aimed at providing a nationally consistent dataset of bushfire boundaries. Version 1 was released publicly on 8 January 2020 through Esri AGOL software. Version 2 of the product was released in mid-February as EMSINA and Geoscience Australia began automating the product. The release of version 2 exhibited a reformatted attributed table to accommodate these new automation scripts. The product was continuously developed by the three entities above until early May 2020 when both the scripts and data were handed over to the National Bushfire Recovery Agency. The EMSINA Group formally ended their technical involvement with this project on June 30, 2020. Version 3 (2020/21): A 2020/21 version of the National Operational Bushfire Boundaries dataset was agreed to by the Australian Government. It continued to extend upon EMSINA’s 2019/20 Version 2 product. This product was owned and managed by the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs, with Geoscience Australia identified as the technical partners responsible for development and delivery. Work on Version 3 began in August 2020 with delivery of this product occurring on 14 September 2020. Version 4 (2021/22): A 2021/22 version of the National Operational Bushfire Boundaries dataset was produced by Geoscience Australia. This product was owned and managed by Geoscience Australia, who provided both development and delivery. Work on Version 4 began in August 2021 with delivery of this product occurring on 1 September 2021. The dataset was discontinued in May 2022 because of insufficient Government funding to sustain the Project. Version 5 (2023/25): A 2023/25 version of the National Near Real-Time Bushfire Boundaries dataset is produced by Geoscience Australia under funding from the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability (NBIC) - CSIRO. NBIC and Geoscience Australia also partnered with the EMSINA Group to assist with accessing and delivering this dataset. This dataset was the first time where the jurisdictional attributes were aligned to AFAC’s draft National Going Bushfire Schema and Data Dictionary. Work on Version 5 began in August 2023 and was released in late 2023 under formal access arrangements with the States and Territories. Version 6 (2025/26) - Current Version A 2025/26 version of the National Near Real-Time Bushfire Extents dataset is produced by Geoscience Australia under project funding from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and the National Emergency Management Agency, with contributions to the National Bushfire Intelligence Capability. This dataset is built directly off Version 5, incorporating improvements from AFAC's finalised National Going Bushfire Schema and Data Dictionary. Work on Version 6 started in September 2025 and was finalised and released in mid-October 2025. This iteration of the dataset is funded until 30 June 2026. Data dictionary Attribute name Field Type Description fire_id String ID attached to fire (e.g. incident ID, Event ID, Burn ID). fire_name String Incident name. If available. fire_type String Binary variable to describe whether a fire was a bushfire or prescribed burn. ignition_date Date The date of the ignition of a fire event. Date and time are captured in jurisdiction local time and converted to UTC. Please note when viewed in ArcGIS Online, the date is converted from UTC to your local time. capt_date Date The date of the incident boundary was captured or updated. Date and time are captured in jurisdiction local time and converted to UTC. Please note when viewed in ArcGIS Online, the date is converted from UTC to your local time. capt_method String Categorical variable to describe the source of data used for defining the spatial extent of the fire. area_ha Double Burnt area in Hectares. Currently calculated field so that all areas calculations are done in the same map projection. Jurisdiction supply area in appropriate projection to match state incident reporting system. perim_km Double Burnt perimeter in Kilometres. Calculated field so that all areas calculations are done in the same map projection. Jurisdiction preference is that supplied perimeter calculations are used for consistency with jurisdictional reporting. state String State custodian of the data. NOTE: Currently some states use and have in their feeds cross border data. agency String Agency that is responsible for the incident date_retrieved Date The date and time that Geoscience Australia retrieved this data from the jurisdictions, stored as UTC. Please note when viewed in ArcGIS Online, the date is converted from UTC to your local time. Contact Client Services at Geoscience Australia, [e-mail]