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Agios Therapon fire, July 2025 Άγιος Θεράπων · Agios Therapon, Souni Zanakia, Vouni

Out · last detection 24 Jul 2025, 23:05 UTC

The fire started on 23 July 2025 in Agios Therapon, Cyprus, and satellites saw it burning for 2 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 12,437 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 23 municipalities.

It is the largest fire in Limassol since 2016 (of 15 with a page). The largest in Cyprus in 2025, of 5.

Burnt area
12,437ha
Copernicus perimeter
Duration
2days
23 Jul 2025 – 24 Jul 2025
Municipalities hit
23
municipalities
Started on
23 Jul
2025
Heat detections
182
in a single hotspot: 385 MW
Danger at start
75
Very extreme · FWI index
Energy released
4.5GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

24 Jul 2025
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 23 Jul24 Jul

How it evolved, day by day

2324

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

39°high
58km/h · peak gust
16%lowest humidity

It had gone 36 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

5% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 127 ha in 2018, 254 ha in 2019, 7 ha in 2021, 223 ha in 2022, 1 ha in 2024.

What happened to each town

  1. Agios Therapon Άγιος Θεράπων 125 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town where it started
    1,643 ha reached on 23 Jul
    100 %
  2. Souni Zanakia Σούνι-Ζανατζιά 837 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    1,515 ha reached on 23 Jul
    72 %
  3. Vouni Βουνί 149 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    1,433 ha reached on 23 Jul
    98 %
  4. Lofou Λόφου 46 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    1,270 ha reached on 23 Jul
    100 %
  5. Vasa Koilaniou Βάσα Κοιλανίου 163 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    832 ha reached on 23 Jul
    98 %
  6. Pano Kivides Πάνω Κυβίδες 707 inhabitants · 0.1 km from the town
    656 ha reached on 23 Jul
    38 %
  7. Koilani Κοιλάνι 216 inhabitants · 0.3 km from the town
    573 ha reached on 23 Jul
    49 %
  8. Kato Kivides Κάτω Κυβίδες 5 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    562 ha reached on 23 Jul
    100 %
  9. Agios Georgios Lemesou
    498 ha reached on 23 Jul
    82 %
  10. Agios Amvrosios Lemesou
    414 ha reached on 23 Jul
    28 %
  11. Alassa Άλασσα 282 inhabitants · 0.2 km from the town
    383 ha reached on 23 Jul
    43 %
  12. Monagri Μονάγρι 175 inhabitants · 0.6 km from the town
    356 ha reached on 23 Jul
    50 %
  13. Potamiou Ποταμιού 36 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    344 ha
    98 %
  14. Omodos Όμοδος 322 inhabitants · 0.2 km from the town
    344 ha reached on 24 Jul
    25 %
  15. Pachna Πάχνα 865 inhabitants · 0.5 km from the town
    337 ha reached on 23 Jul
    12 %
  16. Silikou Συλίκου 137 inhabitants · 0.6 km from the town
    274 ha
    37 %
  17. Kissousa Κισσούσα 6 inhabitants · 0.0 km from the town
    265 ha reached on 23 Jul
    96 %
  18. Kantou Καντού 349 inhabitants · 1.5 km from the town
    254 ha reached on 23 Jul
    21 %
  19. Malia Μαλιά 64 inhabitants · 0.1 km from the town
    232 ha reached on 23 Jul
    18 %
  20. Ypsonas Ύψωνας
    155 ha reached on 23 Jul
    4.8 %
  21. Arsos Lemesou
    120 ha reached on 23 Jul
    12 %
  22. Erimi Ερήμη 2,432 inhabitants · 2.5 km from the town
    8 ha reached on 23 Jul
    1.2 %
  23. Mandria Lemesou
    1 ha
    0.2 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

What burned

  • Agricultural areas46 %
  • Sclerophyllous scrub43 %
  • Other natural land3.2 %
  • Artificial surfaces3.0 %
  • Coniferous forest2.9 %
  • Scrub and transitional woodland1.2 %
  • Broadleaved forest0.6 %

Natura 2000 protected area affected: 21 %

Natura 2000 sites (European Environment Agency, 2024 release) crossed by the perimeter.

Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.

Official record

According to Τμήμα Δασών, this fire started on 23 July 2025 and burned 11,594 ha (the satellite measured 12,437 ha).

Τμήμα Δασών (Departamento de Bosques de Chipre), catálogo de incendios forestales. This is the agency’s consolidated statistic: it measures the area in its own way, which is why it can differ from the satellite.

Checked against the press

Checked on 30 September 2026

We checked this page against 3 sources published once the fire was out. This is what they add:

Also known as
2025 Limassol wildfire · Limassol wildfire · Malia fire
Official area reported: 10,400 ha (the satellite measured 12,437 ha)

Sources

Official figures are measured differently from satellite ones and sometimes cover only part of the fire.

The weather day by day

ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, the standard reference for past weather, and the Canadian Fire Weather Index (the same system Copernicus uses), computed by WorldFires from that data. Days after the fire run until the first rain.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
23 Jul 39.0 °C 16 % 58 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
24 Jul 36.3 °C 22 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
25 Jul after 36.7 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
26 Jul after 37.0 °C 21 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
27 Jul after 36.9 °C 17 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
28 Jul after 33.4 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
29 Jul after 32.7 °C 31 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
30 Jul after 30.7 °C 48 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
31 Jul after 29.4 °C 52 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
1 Aug after 30.3 °C 49 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
2 Aug after 29.7 °C 53 % 40 km/h 0.4 mm High 34
3 Aug after 29.3 °C 49 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 33

Before and after, from space

Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.

Before · 16 Jul 2025
After · 31 Jul 2025

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

The smoke

CAMS · Copernicus

On 26 July 2025 the air beside the fire reached 85 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 31: 2.0 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak85 µg/m³
Days over the guideline2 days
PM1087 µg/m³
Optical depth0.30
21222324252627
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

Particles from the Copernicus CAMS model at the centre of the perimeter; these are not measurements in each town. The pale bar is the worst hour, the solid one the daily average.

Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)

Detections table · 182Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
⬇ Download CSV Times in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Date and timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Cyprus ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Agios Therapon fire last?
Copernicus dates it between 23 July 2025 and 24 July 2025: 2 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 12,437 hectares (124.4 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 23 municipalities: Agios Therapon (1,643 ha, 100 %); Souni Zanakia (1,515 ha, 72 %); Vouni (1,433 ha, 98 %); Lofou (1,270 ha, 100 %); Vasa Koilaniou (832 ha, 98 %); Pano Kivides (656 ha, 38 %); Koilani (573 ha, 49 %); Kato Kivides (562 ha, 100 %); Agios Georgios Lemesou (498 ha, 82 %); Agios Amvrosios Lemesou (414 ha, 28 %); Alassa (383 ha, 43 %); Monagri (356 ha, 50 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.0 km of Agios Therapon. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.0 °C, humidity dropped to 16 % and gusts hit 58 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 75, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Cyprus (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

Where to verify it

A satellite detection is not an official report. Final figures and the fire’s status are published by each country’s emergency service.

Emergency number: 112 · 1407

Satellite cross-check

Does something look wrong on this page?

This page is built from satellite data and official records, and it sometimes gets things wrong: the wrong dates, the wrong town, two fires merged into one, or something that was not a wildfire at all. If you know this fire first-hand (you live nearby, saw it, fought it or reported on it), tell us what really happened and we will check it.

Report an error
What do you think is wrong?

We will only use your email to reply about this report. Privacy. This is not an emergency service: if there is a fire now, call 112 · 1407.

Where this data comes from

The perimeter and land cover come from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), measured on MODIS and Sentinel-2 imagery and published under CC BY 4.0. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM2 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.