BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Australia fires: Misleading maps and pictures go viral

  • Published
    7 January 2020
Share page
About sharing
An artist's visualisation of one month of Australia fire dataImage source, Anthony Hearsey
Image caption,

An artist's visualisation of one month of Australia fire data

ByGeorgina Rannard
BBC News

Maps and pictures of Australia's unprecedented bushfires have spread widely on social media.

Users are posting them to raise awareness of the devastating fires, but some of the viral maps are misleading, spreading disinformation about the crisis.

The months-long fires have killed at least 25 people and millions of animals, and destroyed more than 2,000 houses.

After milder weather brought brief respite last weekend, fire crews are preparing again for worsening conditions as temperatures are predicted to soar on Friday.

Artist's visualisation misinterpreted

One image shared widely by Twitter users, including by singer Rihanna, was interpreted as a map showing the live extent of fire spread, with large sections of the Australian coastline molten-red and fiery.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by Rihanna

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by Rihanna
Presentational white space

But it is actually artist Anthony Hearsey's visualisation of one month of data of locations where fire was detected, external, collected by Nasa's Fire Information for Resource Management System.

"The scale is a little exaggerated due to the render's glow, but it is generally true to the info from the Nasa website. Also note that not all the areas are still burning, and this is a compilation," Mr Hearsey wrote on Instagram in response to criticism by viewers that the image was misleading.

Misleading symbols

Another widely shared map of flame icons dotted across the country claims to show "all the fires burning in Australia".

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Martin

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Martin
Presentational white space

It is taken from the Australian government website MyFireWatch, which uses satellite data to map heat sources.

However the data incorporates "any heat source that is hotter than its surroundings... This may include gas flares, refinery furnaces or highly reflective large industrial roofs", according to its website.

That means that the symbols are not guaranteed to indicate actual fires.

  • A close call: Stories of survival from Mallacoota

  • Russell Crowe sends fires climate message to Golden Globes

  • The sacrifice of Australia's unpaid firefighters

Another issue is that the hotspot symbols do not represent the actual size of fires or the danger posed by them.

Screenshots of maps shared on social media like this often omit important details from the originals, such as the level of risk posed by fire and whether it is under control.

In contrast to MyFireWatch maps (right), blue symbols on New South Wales Rural Fire Service maps (right) give 'Advice' warnings, indicating no immediate dangerImage source, New South Wales Rural Fire Service; MyFireWatch
Image caption,

In contrast to MyFireWatch maps (left), blue symbols on New South Wales Rural Fire Service maps (right) give 'Advice' warnings, indicating no immediate danger

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service publishes live mapped fire information, using symbols to indicate the alert level from "advice" (no immediate danger) to "emergency warning".

On 7 January, the red and orange fire symbols in the MyFireWatch map of New South Wales (NSW) are all ranked as "advice" alerts by the NSW rural fire service.

Media caption,

Australia fires: "Nothing left" for animals that survive

As some Twitter users pointed out, maps that claim to show the size of the affected area by "overlaying" Australia on to other continents like North America and Europe are not completely accurate.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 3 by Kyle Hill

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 3 by Kyle Hill
Presentational white space

This is due to how how the curved earth is distorted when flat map projections are made.

How BBC News made maps of Australia fires

BBC News produced a visual guide to the fires, which uses a range of data sources to produce maps and other visualisations.

Map: Active fires, 6 Jan 2020
Presentational white space

To produce the map of fires, BBC journalists used Python code to extract geographic data from the live fire maps produced by the NSW and Victoria fire services.

"This allows us to plot the complicated fire area shapes quickly on to more basic maps. We've been updating it every one-to-two days while the fires have been at their height and will continue to do so as long as the crisis lasts," data journalist Tom Housden explained.

The BBC's visualisations also used Nasa's fire data to map how the fires spread.

Nasa told the BBC that although its data is collected by satellites that detect heat, including non-fire hotspots like gas flares, these sources account for "less than 1% of the data".

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israeli ministers discussing Gaza plan for ceasefire and hostage release

    • 5777 viewing5.8k viewing
  • Jeremy Bowen: There's now a realistic chance of ending the war - but it's not over yet

    • Published
      6 hours ago
  • How Trump secured a Gaza breakthrough which eluded Biden

    • Published
      47 minutes ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Alan Carr on the Celebrity Traitors, sitting in an armchair and smiling
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

    A young man, with long dark brown hair and a brown beard and moustache , sits next to a hospital bed. He has a bandage on his neck.
  • My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

    Victoria Beckham waves while wearing a white suit with other people in the background as she attends the Victoria Beckham premiere in London on Wednesday.
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • Would leaving the ECHR really 'stop the boats'?

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Man who appealed Pelicot rape conviction handed longer jail term

  2. 2

    Man re-arrested over Manchester synagogue attack

  3. 3

    Sunak joins Microsoft and AI firm as paid adviser

  4. 4

    Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape

  5. 5

    Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life

  6. 6

    Alleged McCann stalker 'sent creepy messages'

  7. 7

    'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

  8. 8

    How Trump secured a Gaza breakthrough which eluded Biden

  9. 9

    From the fishing trip to a Gavin and Stacey film - five things Jones and Corden's book reveals

  10. 10

    Five ways abolishing stamp duty could change the housing market

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

The Celebrity Traitors

  • An all-star cast enters the ultimate game of deceit

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • All the betrayal and drama unpacked

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
  • Meet the Celebrity Traitors as the mind games begin

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • A treacherously good version of a pop classic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    BBC Proms has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    BBC Proms 2025: Britney Spears
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.