diff --git a/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.js b/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..52a020671
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.js
@@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+/**
+ * Snap Map–style heat raster for the Active Fires far-zoom bands: detections
+ * are binned on an equirectangular grid (row 0 = north, column 0 = 180°W),
+ * blurred, normalized on a log scale and mapped through HEAT_PALETTE. Pure:
+ * no Cesium, no DOM, so the whole pipeline is unit-tested in node.
+ */
+
+/** Below this normalized heat nothing is painted: empty land stays empty. */
+export const HEAT_FLOOR = 0.03;
+
+export const HEAT_PALETTE = Object.freeze([
+  { at: 0.0, rgb: [43, 108, 255], alpha: 0 },
+  { at: 0.08, rgb: [43, 108, 255], alpha: 0.35 },
+  { at: 0.25, rgb: [25, 195, 255], alpha: 0.55 },
+  { at: 0.45, rgb: [47, 224, 122], alpha: 0.65 },
+  { at: 0.65, rgb: [245, 230, 66], alpha: 0.75 },
+  { at: 0.82, rgb: [255, 138, 31], alpha: 0.82 },
+  { at: 1.0, rgb: [255, 42, 26], alpha: 0.88 },
+]);
+
+export function heatColorAt(t) {
+  if (!(t > HEAT_FLOOR)) return [0, 0, 0, 0];
+  const v = Math.min(1, t);
+  let i = 1;
+  while (i < HEAT_PALETTE.length - 1 && HEAT_PALETTE[i].at < v) i += 1;
+  const a = HEAT_PALETTE[i - 1];
+  const b = HEAT_PALETTE[i];
+  const k = (v - a.at) / (b.at - a.at || 1);
+  const mix = (p, q) => Math.round(p + (q - p) * k);
+  return [
+    mix(a.rgb[0], b.rgb[0]),
+    mix(a.rgb[1], b.rgb[1]),
+    mix(a.rgb[2], b.rgb[2]),
+    Math.round((a.alpha + (b.alpha - a.alpha) * k) * 255),
+  ];
+}
+
+const defaultWeight = (fire) =>
+  1 + Math.log10(1 + Math.max(0, Number(fire.frp) || 0));
+
+export function binFires(fires, { width, height, weight = defaultWeight }) {
+  const grid = new Float32Array(width * height);
+  for (const fire of fires) {
+    if (!Number.isFinite(fire.lat) || !Number.isFinite(fire.lon)) continue;
+    const x = Math.min(
+      width - 1,
+      Math.max(0, Math.floor(((fire.lon + 180) / 360) * width)),
+    );
+    const y = Math.min(
+      height - 1,
+      Math.max(0, Math.floor(((90 - fire.lat) / 180) * height)),
+    );
+    grid[y * width + x] += weight(fire);
+  }
+  return grid;
+}
+
+function kernel(sigma) {
+  const radius = Math.max(1, Math.ceil(sigma * 3));
+  const k = new Float32Array(radius * 2 + 1);
+  let sum = 0;
+  for (let i = -radius; i <= radius; i++) {
+    k[i + radius] = Math.exp(-(i * i) / (2 * sigma * sigma));
+    sum += k[i + radius];
+  }
+  for (let i = 0; i < k.length; i++) k[i] /= sum;
+  return { k, radius };
+}
+
+export function blurGaussian(grid, width, height, sigma) {
+  const { k, radius } = kernel(sigma);
+  const tmp = new Float32Array(grid.length);
+  const out = new Float32Array(grid.length);
+  for (let y = 0; y < height; y++) {
+    const row = y * width;
+    for (let x = 0; x < width; x++) {
+      const v = grid[row + x];
+      if (v === 0) continue;
+      for (let i = -radius; i <= radius; i++) {
+        const xx = (((x + i) % width) + width) % width; // longitude wraps
+        tmp[row + xx] += v * k[i + radius];
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  for (let y = 0; y < height; y++) {
+    for (let x = 0; x < width; x++) {
+      const v = tmp[y * width + x];
+      if (v === 0) continue;
+      for (let i = -radius; i <= radius; i++) {
+        const yy = Math.min(height - 1, Math.max(0, y + i)); // poles clamp
+        out[yy * width + x] += v * k[i + radius];
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return out;
+}
+
+/** Bins of the log-density histogram used to find the reference quantile. */
+const QUANTILE_BINS = 4096;
+
+/**
+ * The p-quantile of the non-zero values, from a histogram of log1p(value):
+ * one linear pass instead of sorting ~350k burning pixels (a sort cost
+ * 200 ms+ and dominated the build). Bin width on the log axis is
+ * max/4096, far finer than the 256-step palette it feeds.
+ */
+function percentileOfNonZero(values, p) {
+  let count = 0;
+  let max = 0;
+  for (let i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
+    const v = values[i];
+    if (v > 0) {
+      count += 1;
+      if (v > max) max = v;
+    }
+  }
+  if (!count) return 0;
+  const logMax = Math.log1p(max);
+  const bins = new Uint32Array(QUANTILE_BINS);
+  const toBin = (QUANTILE_BINS - 1) / logMax;
+  for (let i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
+    const v = values[i];
+    if (v > 0) bins[Math.floor(Math.log1p(v) * toBin)] += 1;
+  }
+  const target = Math.floor(p * (count - 1));
+  let seen = 0;
+  for (let b = 0; b < QUANTILE_BINS; b++) {
+    seen += bins[b];
+    if (seen > target) return Math.expm1((b + 1) / toBin);
+  }
+  return max;
+}
+
+/** HEAT_PALETTE sampled at 256 steps, so the per-pixel walk is one lookup. */
+const LUT_STEPS = 256;
+let paletteLut = null;
+function heatLut() {
+  if (!paletteLut) {
+    paletteLut = new Uint8ClampedArray(LUT_STEPS * 4);
+    for (let i = 0; i < LUT_STEPS; i++) {
+      paletteLut.set(heatColorAt(i / (LUT_STEPS - 1)), i * 4);
+    }
+  }
+  return paletteLut;
+}
+
+export function buildHeatRaster(
+  fires,
+  { width, height, sigmaPx, percentile = 0.995 },
+) {
+  const density = blurGaussian(
+    binFires(fires, { width, height }),
+    width,
+    height,
+    sigmaPx,
+  );
+  const reference = percentileOfNonZero(density, percentile);
+  const rgba = new Uint8ClampedArray(width * height * 4);
+  if (reference > 0) {
+    const lut = heatLut();
+    const scale = (LUT_STEPS - 1) / Math.log1p(reference);
+    for (let i = 0; i < density.length; i++) {
+      const d = density[i];
+      if (d <= 0) continue;
+      const step = Math.min(LUT_STEPS - 1, Math.round(Math.log1p(d) * scale));
+      const l = step * 4;
+      if (lut[l + 3] === 0) continue;
+      const o = i * 4;
+      rgba[o] = lut[l];
+      rgba[o + 1] = lut[l + 1];
+      rgba[o + 2] = lut[l + 2];
+      rgba[o + 3] = lut[l + 3];
+    }
+  }
+  return { width, height, rgba, reference };
+}
diff --git a/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.test.mjs b/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..704c83427
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/data/firmsHeatRaster.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import {
+  HEAT_PALETTE,
+  heatColorAt,
+  binFires,
+  blurGaussian,
+  buildHeatRaster,
+} from './firmsHeatRaster.js';
+
+const fire = (lat, lon, frp = 10) => ({ lat, lon, frp });
+
+test('palette runs cold to hot and starts fully transparent', () => {
+  assert.equal(HEAT_PALETTE[0].at, 0);
+  assert.equal(HEAT_PALETTE.at(-1).at, 1);
+  assert.deepEqual(heatColorAt(0), [0, 0, 0, 0]);
+  assert.equal(heatColorAt(0.01)[3], 0, 'below the floor nothing is painted');
+  const low = heatColorAt(0.15);
+  const high = heatColorAt(1);
+  assert.ok(low[2] > low[0], 'low heat is blue');
+  assert.ok(high[0] > high[2], 'the core is red');
+  assert.ok(high[3] > low[3], 'hotter is more opaque');
+});
+
+test('binFires drops each detection into its equirectangular pixel', () => {
+  const grid = binFires([fire(89.9, -179.9, 0), fire(-89.9, 179.9, 0)], {
+    width: 4,
+    height: 2,
+  });
+  assert.equal(grid[0], 1, 'north-west corner');
+  assert.equal(grid[7], 1, 'south-east corner');
+  assert.equal(
+    grid.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0),
+    2,
+  );
+});
+
+test('binFires weights strong fires slightly more', () => {
+  const grid = binFires([fire(0.1, 0.1, 999)], { width: 4, height: 2 });
+  assert.ok(grid[2] > 3 && grid[2] < 5, String(grid[2]));
+});
+
+test('blurGaussian keeps mass and wraps across the antimeridian', () => {
+  const w = 16;
+  const h = 8;
+  const grid = new Float32Array(w * h);
+  grid[3 * w + 0] = 1;
+  const out = blurGaussian(grid, w, h, 1.5);
+  const sum = out.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
+  assert.ok(Math.abs(sum - 1) < 1e-3, `mass ${sum}`);
+  assert.ok(out[3 * w + (w - 1)] > 0, 'spills to the east edge');
+});
+
+test('buildHeatRaster is transparent where there are no fires', () => {
+  const r = buildHeatRaster([fire(40, -120), fire(40.1, -120.1)], {
+    width: 360,
+    height: 180,
+    sigmaPx: 2,
+  });
+  assert.equal(r.rgba.length, 360 * 180 * 4);
+  const alphaAt = (lat, lon) => {
+    const x = Math.floor(((lon + 180) / 360) * 360);
+    const y = Math.floor(((90 - lat) / 180) * 180);
+    return r.rgba[(y * 360 + x) * 4 + 3];
+  };
+  assert.ok(alphaAt(40, -120) > 0, 'blob over the fires');
+  assert.equal(alphaAt(-30, 60), 0, 'empty far away');
+});
+
+test('buildHeatRaster with no fires is fully transparent', () => {
+  const r = buildHeatRaster([], { width: 8, height: 4, sigmaPx: 1 });
+  assert.ok(r.rgba.every((v) => v === 0));
+});
diff --git a/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.js b/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f2f99fbe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.js
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/**
+ * Drapes the Active Fires heat raster over the globe as one full-extent
+ * imagery tile on the active imagery host (globe or 3D-tiles), like the wind
+ * layer's scalar field. Owns the canvas and the imagery layer; nothing else
+ * in the fires layer touches imagery.
+ */
+
+const defaultCanvas = (width, height) => {
+  const canvas = document.createElement('canvas');
+  canvas.width = width;
+  canvas.height = height;
+  return canvas;
+};
+
+export function createHeatImagery({
+  cesium,
+  getHost,
+  createCanvas = defaultCanvas,
+}) {
+  let raster = null;
+  let layer = null;
+  let collection = null;
+  let show = true;
+
+  function detach() {
+    if (layer && collection) collection.remove(layer, true);
+    layer = null;
+    collection = null;
+  }
+
+  function attach() {
+    detach();
+    if (!raster) return;
+    const host = getHost?.() ?? { collection: null, kind: 'none' };
+    if (!host.collection) return;
+    const canvas = createCanvas(raster.width, raster.height);
+    const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
+    const image = ctx.createImageData(raster.width, raster.height);
+    image.data.set(raster.rgba);
+    ctx.putImageData(image, 0, 0);
+    const provider = new cesium.SingleTileImageryProvider({
+      url: canvas.toDataURL('image/png'),
+      tileWidth: raster.width,
+      tileHeight: raster.height,
+      rectangle: cesium.Rectangle.MAX_VALUE,
+    });
+    collection = host.collection;
+    layer = collection.addImageryProvider(provider);
+    layer.show = show;
+    collection.raiseToTop?.(layer);
+  }
+
+  return {
+    setRaster(next) {
+      raster = next;
+      attach();
+    },
+    setShow(value) {
+      show = Boolean(value);
+      if (layer) layer.show = show;
+    },
+    rehome() {
+      const host = getHost?.();
+      if ((host?.collection ?? null) !== collection) attach();
+    },
+    destroy() {
+      detach();
+      raster = null;
+    },
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.test.mjs b/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0fca7b97f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/layers/firms/heatImagery.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import { createHeatImagery } from './heatImagery.js';
+
+function harness() {
+  const layers = [];
+  const removed = [];
+  const collection = {
+    addImageryProvider(provider) {
+      const layer = { provider, show: true, alpha: 1 };
+      layers.push(layer);
+      return layer;
+    },
+    remove(layer, destroy) {
+      layers.splice(layers.indexOf(layer), 1);
+      removed.push({ layer, destroy });
+    },
+    raiseToTop() {},
+  };
+  let host = { collection, kind: 'globe' };
+  const cesium = {
+    Rectangle: { MAX_VALUE: { max: true } },
+    SingleTileImageryProvider: class {
+      constructor(options) {
+        this.options = options;
+      }
+    },
+  };
+  const createCanvas = (w, h) => ({
+    width: w,
+    height: h,
+    getContext: () => ({
+      createImageData: (cw, ch) => ({
+        data: new Uint8ClampedArray(cw * ch * 4),
+      }),
+      putImageData() {},
+    }),
+    toDataURL: () => 'data:image/png;base64,AAAA',
+  });
+  const imagery = createHeatImagery({
+    cesium,
+    getHost: () => host,
+    createCanvas,
+  });
+  return { imagery, layers, removed, collection, setHost: (h) => (host = h) };
+}
+
+const raster = { width: 4, height: 2, rgba: new Uint8ClampedArray(32) };
+
+test('setRaster drapes one full-globe tile and replaces it on the next build', () => {
+  const h = harness();
+  h.imagery.setRaster(raster);
+  assert.equal(h.layers.length, 1);
+  assert.deepEqual(h.layers[0].provider.options.rectangle, { max: true });
+  assert.equal(h.layers[0].provider.options.tileWidth, 4);
+  h.imagery.setRaster(raster);
+  assert.equal(h.layers.length, 1, 'never two heat layers');
+  assert.equal(h.removed[0].destroy, true);
+});
+
+test('setShow toggles without rebuilding', () => {
+  const h = harness();
+  h.imagery.setRaster(raster);
+  const layer = h.layers[0];
+  h.imagery.setShow(false);
+  assert.equal(layer.show, false);
+  h.imagery.setShow(true);
+  assert.equal(h.layers[0], layer);
+  assert.equal(layer.show, true);
+});
+
+test('no imagery host keeps nothing draped; rehome brings it back', () => {
+  const h = harness();
+  h.setHost({ collection: null, kind: 'none' });
+  h.imagery.setRaster(raster);
+  assert.equal(h.layers.length, 0);
+  h.setHost({ collection: h.collection, kind: 'globe' });
+  h.imagery.rehome();
+  assert.equal(h.layers.length, 1);
+});
+
+test('destroy removes the layer', () => {
+  const h = harness();
+  h.imagery.setRaster(raster);
+  h.imagery.destroy();
+  assert.equal(h.layers.length, 0);
+});