Alfândega da Fé fire, 16 August 2018
Eucisia, Gouveia e Valverde
Out · last detection 16 Aug 2018, 14:19 UTC
The fire started on 16 August 2018 in Eucisia, Gouveia e Valverde, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 1 day. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 164 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single freguesia. According to ICNF, it was detected on 16 August 2018 at 14:34 and declared extinguished on 16 August 2018.
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
31.4°C · 30% RH
High of 31.4 °C and minimum humidity of 30% on 16 August 2018; gusts of 37 km/h on 16 August 2018.
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 ICNF record
Matches: 159 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 freguesia, 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 land67 %
Agricultural areas33 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to ICNF, this fire started on 16 August 2018 and burned 159 ha (the satellite measured 164 ha).
Alfândega da FéGouveia16 August 2018 · 14:34159 ha· extinguished on 16 August 2018· cause: negligence
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)
16 Aug
31.4 °C
30 %
37 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
17 Aug after
30.0 °C
30 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
High 36
18 Aug after
29.0 °C
18 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
19 Aug after
31.7 °C
21 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
20 Aug after
33.1 °C
23 %
33 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
21 Aug after
32.7 °C
23 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
22 Aug after
32.6 °C
25 %
34 km/h
0.2 mm
High 31
23 Aug after
32.5 °C
29 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
24 Aug after
31.1 °C
23 %
31 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
25 Aug after
29.0 °C
29 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
26 Aug after
30.3 °C
29 %
22 km/h
0.0 mm
High 27
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 34.0, a minimum humidity of 30% and 35 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 21.
FWI at the start34.0
Minimum humidity30 %
Days without rain35
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Alfândega da Fé fire, 16 August 2018
164 ha1 dayFWI 34.0Min. humidity 30 %
Valpaços fire, August 2022
505 ha4 daysFWI 33.9Min. humidity 28 %39 km away, in 2022
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.4 mm on 5 Sept.
It stayed below its twins: 164 ha against a median of 403 ha. It lasted 1 day, against 2 days.
In 8 of 21, 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 1.7 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
37km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 16 Aug, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 13 of 21, with a median of 1.7 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 · 9 Aug 2018
After · 23 Aug 2018
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 16 August 2018 the air beside the fire reached 8 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak8µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1011µg/m³
14 Aug16 Aug18 Aug
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· 4Every 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 16 August 2018 and 16 August 2018: 1 day between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 16 August 2018 at 14:34 and declared extinguished on 16 August 2018.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 164 hectares (1.6 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire only entered Eucisia, Gouveia e Valverde (164 ha, 3.2 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Eucisia, Gouveia e Valverde and came within 1.2 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 31.4 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 37 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (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: 21. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 403 ha; 19 % went past 1,000 ha. In 8 of 21, 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 1.7 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. 4 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 159 official ha against 164 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. Freguesia boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). The area per freguesia is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.