Alà dei Sardi fire, July 2017
Alà dei Sardi, Padru
Out · last detection 14 Jul 2017, 11:59 UTC
The fire started on 12 July 2017 in Alà dei Sardi, Italy, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 1,830 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 2th largest in Tàttari/Sassari since 2016 (of 17 with a page). Number 8 in Italy in 2017, of 361.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
matches the official record
1,830ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page1,830CFVA Sardegna1,707
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
CFVA Sardegna: 1,707 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +7.2%. Matched on 1 November 2026.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
3days
12 Jul 2017 to 14 Jul 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 14 Jul 2017, 11:59 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
matches the official record
12 Jul 2017
Alert according to CFVA Sardegna: 12 July 2017.
Source
CFVA Sardegna · 2017/SS/0882
Date
matched to the page on 1 November 2026
+− cross-check
First day with fire on the page (satellite or perimeter): 12 July 2017.
Hotspots
satellite only
58
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 243 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
12 Jul 2017 – 14 Jul 2017
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
1,791MW
Total radiative power on 13 July 2017; hotspots that day: 24.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
13 Jul 2017
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
47.2FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 11.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
33.0°C · 24% RH
High of 33.0 °C and minimum humidity of 24% on 12 July 2017; gusts of 71 km/h on 14 July 2017.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CFVA Sardegna record
Matches: 1,707 ha in the official record (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance runs from the point marking the centre of each area to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.
What burned
Other natural land81 %
Sclerophyllous scrub12 %
Agricultural areas5.1 %
Broadleaved forest1.8 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to CFVA Sardegna, this fire started on 12 July 2017 and burned 1,707 ha (the satellite measured 1,830 ha).
Alà dei SardiP.ta de su Filighe Masciu12 July 20171,707 ha
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)
12 Jul
33.0 °C
24 %
46 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 47
13 Jul
29.8 °C
24 %
66 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 64
14 Jul
28.2 °C
31 %
71 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 70
15 Jul after
30.0 °C
30 %
45 km/h
0.2 mm
High 36
16 Jul after
26.0 °C
29 %
53 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
17 Jul after
24.6 °C
26 %
53 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
18 Jul after
28.2 °C
18 %
37 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
19 Jul after
28.8 °C
27 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
20 Jul after
30.4 °C
28 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
21 Jul after
30.9 °C
43 %
39 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
22 Jul after
32.0 °C
32 %
37 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
23 Jul after
32.4 °C
35 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
24 Jul after
27.9 °C
33 %
76 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 58
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 47.2, a minimum humidity of 24% and 11 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 24.
FWI at the start47.2
Minimum humidity24 %
Days without rain11
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Alà dei Sardi fire, July 2017
1,830 ha3 daysFWI 47.2Min. humidity 24 %
Serri fire, July 2023
207 ha3 daysFWI 50.0Min. humidity 23 %114 km away, in 2023
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 6.7 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 3 days, against 2 days.
Only 4 of its 24 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 17 of 24, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.8 mm.
This is a bank of analogues: it shows what usually happens, not what will happen. With fewer than 15 twins we give no figures. How we calculate it
How it ended
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
71km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 14 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 7 of 24, with a median of 1.8 mm.
Weather on this page: Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (ERA5)
How a twin is chosen
Same area: fires that have already ended, less than 250 km from this one, since 2016.
Same start: we compare the FWI on the first day, the minimum humidity that day and the run of days without rain before it. The slider sets how much they may differ.
Only pages with final weather data (ERA5 reanalysis) calculated in the same way as this fire’s; agricultural and grass burns and pages with data under review are left out.
Fires burning at the same time as this one (a week before or after) are left out: they share the same spell of weather and do not count as a precedent.
They are sorted by similarity, and the outlines of the first five are drawn.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 5 Jul 2017
After · 21 Jul 2017
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 10 July 2017 the air beside the fire reached 15 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak15µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1030µg/m³
10 Jul12 Jul14 Jul16 Jul
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely 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· 58Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Copernicus dates it between 12 July 2017 and 14 July 2017: 3 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 1,830 hectares (18.3 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Alà dei Sardi (1,670 ha, 8.4 %); Padru (162 ha, 1.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Alà dei Sardi and came within 3.4 km of its centre. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.0 °C, humidity dropped to 24 % and gusts hit 71 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 70, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Italy (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.
How did the fires that started in similar weather in this area end?
Fires less than 250 km away that started since 2016 with a similar FWI, humidity and dry spell: 24. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 272 ha; 21 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 4 of its 24 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 17 of 24, not even 1 mm fell in the ten days after the end: they went out without rain. In the rest, the first rainy day brought a median of 1.8 mm.
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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 58 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CFVA Sardegna: 1,707 official ha against 1,830 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
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 ADM4 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License). 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.