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Forest fire data: sources, access and APIs

Geolocated, time-stamped reports, consolidated history, public reference data (BDIFF, EFFIS, Météo-France): what you can access, under what conditions, and how to cross-reference the sources effectively for your work.

Explore the history Request access

Content verified — July 2026 Forest Fires Association

Key information for you

The 4 key messages to bear in mind for your profile.

  1. Our data: the detailed kinetics of events Geolocated, time-stamped, moderated reports, complete with media and a log: a level of temporal detail rarely found, complementing official databases.
  2. The BDIFF remains the benchmark for performance reviews Areas and cases consolidated by government departments — this is the figure cited for the annual French totals.
  3. EFFIS for comparison and remote sensing Satellite data sets (MODIS/VIIRS, Sentinel) that are consistent across European countries — ideal for spatial analysis.
  4. Access by agreement; free for research purposes The API and exports are available for academic research and public services, subject to a simple agreement setting out the terms of use.

Your actions

In practical terms, here’s what you can do right now.

Explore the mapped history Our consolidated data and historical fire records, which can be filtered by local authority, year and area. Explore Request API access / export Describe your project (lab, department, media): we’ll agree on the scope and format (JSON, GeoJSON, CSV). Enquire Start with the consolidated figures Our annotated summary of national series — useful for getting a grasp of a topic before delving into the data. View the details The risk analysis framework Weather variables, the rule of 30, geographical scope: a framework for interpreting the data. View the details The resources framework List of aerial and ground vectors — useful for correctly coding your datasets. View the details Data journalism? The press area for media use of our data. View the details

Useful resources & contacts

The organisations and reference documents relevant to your profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is your data freely downloadable?

The maps and public pages are freely accessible; raw data access (via the API or bulk exports) is subject to a free licence for academic research and public services — which sets out the scope, permitted uses and citation requirements. This step also enables us to provide you with information on the dataset’s known biases.

What biases should we be aware of when it comes to reports from members of the public?

The usual challenges of crowdsourcing: coverage that correlates with population density and the platform’s profile (which varies by region and year), the time stamp of a report not necessarily matching the time the fire broke out, and the under-representation of small fires that are quickly extinguished. Our moderation metadata helps to manage these issues.

How can you cross-reference your reports with the BDIFF or EFFIS?

Spatio-temporal matching (buffer of a few kilometres, time window of a few hours to days): our reports document the alert and the dynamics, BDIFF provides the consolidated summaries, and EFFIS defines the areas. Several teams have done this — we are happy to share the existing matching scripts.

Do you accept research collaborations?

Yes: provision of data, a testing ground (detection, alert dissemination), joint publications. Some of the work currently underway focuses on early detection and risk perception. Tell us about your project.

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