Agolada fire, July 2022 Palas de Rei, Antas de Ulla, Agolada
The fire started on 17 July 2022 in Agolada, Spain, and satellites saw it burning for 2 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 332 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 3 municipalities. According to EGIF (MITECO), the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 17 July 2022 at 13:13 and declared extinguished on 24 July 2022.
It is the 20th largest in Pontevedra since 2016 (of 33 with a page). Number 81 in Spain in 2022, of 194.
Compare with…
- Burnt area
- 332ha
- Copernicus perimeter
- Duration
- 2days
- 17 Jul 2022 – 18 Jul 2022
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- municipalities
- Started on
- 17 Jul
- 2022
- Heat detections
- 31
- in a single hotspot: 93 MW
- Danger at start
- 18
- Moderate · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 314MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 17 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
Palas de Rei 3,227 inhabitants · 7.0 km from the town263 ha reached on 17 Jul1.3 %
-
Antas de Ulla 1,822 inhabitants · 6.9 km from the town68 ha reached on 17 Jul0.6 %
-
1 ha reached on 17 Jul0.0 %
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
- Other natural land46 %
- Broadleaved forest35 %
- Coniferous forest7.3 %
- Mixed forest6.4 %
- Agricultural areas6.1 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Complex of 2 fires according to EGIF (MITECO)
According to EGIF (MITECO), 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 314 ha (the satellite measured 332 ha).
EGIF (MITECO) records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.
- 1 Antas de Ulla 17 July 2022 · 13:01 55 ha · extinguished on 24 July 2022 · cause: arson
- 2 Palas de Rei 17 July 2022 · 13:13 259 ha · extinguished on 24 July 2022 · cause: arson
Total according to EGIF (MITECO): 314 ha, 95 % of the 332 ha in the satellite perimeter.
MITECO, Estadística General de Incendios Forestales (EGIF). This is the agency’s consolidated statistic: it measures the area in its own way, which is why it can differ from the satellite.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Jul | 32.9 °C | 43 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 18 Jul | 26.7 °C | 57 % | 49 km/h | 0.1 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 19 Jul after | 20.8 °C | 65 % | 52 km/h | 0.8 mm | Moderate 12 |
| 20 Jul after | 26.2 °C | 55 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 14 |
| 21 Jul after | 27.9 °C | 58 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 14 |
| 22 Jul after | 23.3 °C | 59 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 23 Jul after | 28.2 °C | 47 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 24 Jul after | 26.2 °C | 53 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 17 |
| 25 Jul after | 24.5 °C | 54 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 16 |
| 26 Jul after | 24.2 °C | 52 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 20 |
| 27 Jul after | 25.0 °C | 47 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
| 28 Jul after | 24.1 °C | 56 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 18 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.
Detections table · 31Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Agolada fire last?
- Copernicus dates it between 17 July 2022 and 18 July 2022: 2 days between the first and last image with fire. According to EGIF (MITECO), the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 17 July 2022 at 13:13 and declared extinguished on 24 July 2022.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 332 hectares (3.3 km²). Official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Palas de Rei (263 ha, 1.3 %); Antas de Ulla (68 ha, 0.6 %); Agolada (1 ha, 0.0 %).
- Did the fire reach a town?
- The closest fire to a town centre came within 6.9 km of Antas de Ulla. 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 32.9 °C, humidity dropped to 43 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 18, class Moderate.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Spain (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
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
- Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 31 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
- Compared with EGIF (MITECO): 314 official ha against 332 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
- Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
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 ADM3 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.