Most people picture wildfire season as a summer problem out West. In Georgia, the worst smoke usually rolls in during winter and early spring, and a lot of it is smoke we set on purpose. The live map at the top of this page shows where that smoke is moving right now, and the AQI reading beside it tells you whether the air where you live is safe to breathe today.
That reading comes from the EPA monitor closest to you, whether you are in metro Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Columbus, or a rural county down on the coastal plain. The action steps below it match your number. Everything refreshes through the day from the EPA, NOAA, and the Georgia Forestry Commission.
If smoke is in your area now, scroll straight to the action steps. If you are reading ahead of the next event, bookmark this page. The first smoky morning of the season is a bad time to start figuring out where to check the air.
TL;DR Quick Answers
Current Live Forest Wildfire and Smoke Map Today in Georgia
- A live Georgia wildfire and smoke map, refreshed through the day from EPA AirNow, NOAA, and the Georgia Forestry Commission’s statewide viewer.
- Your current Georgia AQI in plain language: what the number means for your household, not just a color on a scale.
- Active wildfires and prescribed burns across Georgia right now, with location, county, and how close they sit to you.
- A 24-to-48-hour smoke forecast from NOAA’s HRRR-Smoke model, so you can prepare before the haze shows up.
- Action steps built for Georgia conditions and matched to today’s reading, not generic advice.
Top Takeaways
- Smoke beats the fire to your door. Wildfire and prescribed-burn smoke can push PM2.5 up in your neighborhood hours before you see haze or catch a campfire smell, and often with no fire anywhere close.
- Our season runs opposite the West’s. Wildfire danger in Georgia peaks in the dry, windy weeks of winter and early spring. The heaviest prescribed-burn smoke lands between January and April.
- Prescribed burns put real smoke in the air you breathe. Controlled fire protects Georgia’s forests, but it also adds fine particles: roughly 14% of year-round PM2.5 across the region, and about 20% during burn season (Environmental Science & Technology, 2024).
- PM2.5 is what hurts you. These particles run about 30 times thinner than a human hair, small enough to reach deep into your lungs and slip into your bloodstream (EPA, 2024).
- Some people are hit harder. Children, adults over 65, pregnant people, outdoor and forestry workers, farmworkers, and anyone with asthma, COPD, or heart disease face serious risk at readings healthy adults can often tolerate (CDC, 2024).
Table of Contents
Where Georgia Is Burning Right Now
Every active wildfire and current prescribed burn in the state shows up on the map, tagged with its county and size, drawn from the Georgia Forestry Commission’s live feed and federal incident reports. A wildfire down on the coastal plain and a controlled burn in the pine belt look the same here. Zoom to your county, and you can see which fire is closest and how far it has spread.
What Today’s Georgia AQI Means for You
That AQI number is the quick answer to whether you can be outside. Under 100, most people are clear, though sensitive groups should keep an eye on how they feel. Between 101 and 150, children, older adults, pregnant people, outdoor and forestry workers, and anyone with asthma, COPD, or heart disease should trim their time outdoors. Once it passes 151, everyone should pull back, and an N95 or KN95 earns its keep if you have to go out. The color gives you the category. The number tells you how hard the day is going to be.
Where the Smoke Is Headed Next
Smoke moves, and Georgia’s terrain makes it worse. On a calm night it pools in low ground and lingers past sunrise, and a single wind shift can carry a plume from a fire two counties over straight to your street. We built the forecast layer on NOAA’s HRRR-Smoke model, so it shows where the smoke is likely to drift over the next 24 to 48 hours. Use that head start to close the house up and run your filtration before the haze arrives, not once it is already inside.
Why Georgia’s Smoke Season Surprises People
Out West, wildfire is a summer story. Georgia runs on the opposite calendar: our danger climbs in the dry, windy weeks of winter and early spring, and much of the smoke comes from prescribed burns — the controlled fires that keep the state’s forests healthy and treat about 1.4 million acres a year (Georgia Forestry Commission). Those particles are no different from a wildfire’s, and they tend to show up on the calm, clear days nobody is watching for smoke. Once you know the season is coming, you can stay ahead of it.
When the map turns orange or red where you live, the steps further down this page walk you through exactly what to do.
“Across the Georgia smoke events we track, the households that come through it best treat this map as a planning tool instead of an alarm. They seal up and turn on filtration the hour AQI crosses 100, well before anyone smells smoke in the kitchen.” — Wildfire Air Guide Editorial Team
Essential Resources for Georgia Residents
Seven tools we lean on ourselves and point every Georgia household toward before fire season starts. Bookmark them now, while the air is clear.
1. Track live air quality anywhere in the U.S.
EPA AirNow posts the official AQI for any Georgia city, plus the national Fire and Smoke Map and free daily email alerts. Start here.
Source: EPA AirNow
2. See Georgia’s statewide fire and smoke map
The Georgia Forestry Commission’s Wildfire Public Viewer maps active wildfires, current prescribed burns, PM2.5 monitor readings, NOAA smoke detection, and wind direction across the state. It is the clearest single view of what is burning in Georgia right now.
Source: Georgia Forestry Commission Fire Weather
3. Check the 48-hour smoke forecast
NOAA’s HRRR-Smoke model shows where smoke will travel over the next two days. That head start lets you close windows and set up filtration before the haze reaches your street.
Source: NOAA HRRR-Smoke Model
4. Know Georgia’s burn rules and air alerts
Georgia EPD’s Air Protection Branch writes the state’s open-burning rules and tracks the ozone and smoke conditions that trigger statewide air-quality advisories.
Source: Georgia EPD Air Protection Branch
5. Build a family wildfire plan
Ready.gov walks your household through evacuation planning, go-bags, and a communication plan that holds when phone networks jam. The checklists are plain-language, with a version you can read through with kids.
Source: Ready.gov Wildfires
6. Protect higher-risk family members
The CDC spells out specific steps for children, older adults, pregnant people, and anyone with asthma, COPD, heart disease, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.
Source: CDC Wildfire Smoke and Chronic Conditions
7. Compare indoor filtration for smoke season
Filterbuy keeps a Georgia-specific wildfire and smoke hub covering HVAC filter choices, clean-room setup, and its own Georgia smoke map. It pairs well with our free, product-neutral guidance if you are sizing up filtration before the next event.
Source: Filterbuy Georgia Wildfire & Smoke Map
Wildfire Smoke by the Numbers
Three numbers that explain why we tell Georgia families to prepare for smoke season instead of reacting to it. These sources are separate from the tools above.
Stat 1: 2024 was a heavy fire year nationwide.
The National Interagency Fire Center counted 64,897 wildfires across the U.S. in 2024. They burned 8,924,884 acres, about 127% of the 10-year average. Winds high in the atmosphere carry smoke from fires like these across state lines, Georgia included.
Source: National Interagency Fire Center Statistics
Stat 2: PM2.5 reaches your bloodstream.
The EPA documents that once you inhale them, the fine particles in smoke can move from deep in your lungs into your bloodstream, where they reach other organs, including your heart. That is why a smoke-day AQI of 175 is not the same as a high-ozone summer afternoon at the same number.
Source: EPA: Why Is Smoke a Health Concern?
Stat 3: Prescribed burns measurably shape Georgia’s air.
A 2024 study in Environmental Science & Technology found that on 130 days between 2015 and 2020, prescribed burns added 10% or more of the daily PM2.5 standard to Georgia’s air. Across the year they accounted for about 14% of ambient PM2.5, climbing to roughly 20% during the January-to-April burning season.
Final Thoughts and Opinion
Here is what we tell our own families in Georgia: get ready for smoke season before it starts, and treat the live map as a planning tool, not an alarm. The households that struggle are almost always the ones reacting after the haze has already settled in, hunting for an N95 that fits a child or a filter that fits the furnace on the worst air day of the year.
Smoke disrupts life. It cancels practices, keeps kids inside, and forces hard calls for people whose jobs keep them outdoors. We are not going to pretend that closing your windows for three days is a small thing. What we can do is hand you an honest reading and a clear next step every time you check, so the choice about whether your family goes outside stays yours, with the facts in front of you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does the Georgia wildfire and smoke map update?
It refreshes through the day, pulling from EPA AirNow, NOAA, and the Georgia Forestry Commission’s statewide viewer. During an active event, the monitors behind it report at least once an hour. Check the timestamp shown on your reading before you act on it.
Is it safe to go outside in Georgia smoke today?
Check the AQI at the top of this page first. Below 100, most people can be outside, though sensitive groups should watch for symptoms. At 101 and up, cut back on hard outdoor activity. At 151 and up, everyone should skip it and wear an N95 or KN95 if they have to go out.
What does PM2.5 mean, and why does it matter in Georgia?
PM2.5 is fine particulate matter: particles 2.5 micrometers or smaller, about 30 times thinner than a human hair. In Georgia it comes from both wildfires and prescribed burns, and it is the pollutant behind most of the health effects of smoke (EPA, 2024).
Is prescribed-burn smoke different from wildfire smoke for my health?
For your lungs, the PM2.5 is the same and carries the same risk. The difference is timing: prescribed burns are planned and clustered in winter and spring, so the smoke is easier to forecast, but it is no less real.
How do I know if smoke from a Georgia fire is heading my way?
Watch the NOAA HRRR-Smoke forecast and the Georgia Forestry Commission’s viewer, both linked above. They show smoke trajectory and wind direction up to 48 hours out, which is usually enough time to seal your home and set up filtration.
What should I do if my Georgia AQI hits Unhealthy or higher?
Get indoors, close the windows and doors, and run a HEPA air purifier or HVAC system with a high-rated filter. If you have to go out, wear a well-sealed N95 or KN95. Check on older neighbors, and keep children and anyone with a heart or lung condition inside.
Why does my Georgia AQI reading look different from another app’s?
Different tools pull from different monitors and average over different time windows. The EPA monitor nearest you can read differently from a backyard sensor a few miles away. When they disagree, plan around the higher number.
Stay Ahead of the Next Georgia Smoke Event
Bookmark this page and open it the moment you see haze or smell smoke, or ahead of a forecasted burn window while the air is still clear. It is free, it carries no ads, and it always leads with the answer that matters most: is the air safe right now, and what should you do about it?