How long did the Arafo fire last?

Copernicus dates it between 16 August 2023 and 27 August 2023: 12 days between the first and last image with fire.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 12,052 hectares (120.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 12 municipalities: La Orotava (4,113 ha, 20 %); Candelaria (1,724 ha, 35 %); Arafo (1,595 ha, 46 %); Los Realejos (1,084 ha, 19 %); Güímar (828 ha, 8.0 %); Santa Úrsula (823 ha, 37 %); La Victoria de Acentejo (789 ha, 43 %); El Rosario (455 ha, 12 %); La Matanza de Acentejo (259 ha, 18 %); El Sauzal (236 ha, 13 %); Tacoronte (119 ha, 4.0 %); Fasnia (74 ha, 1.6 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.5 km of La Matanza de Acentejo. 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 29.0 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 59 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 Spain (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

ES · Spain · 2023-08-16 → 2023-08-27

Arafo fire, August 2023 La Orotava, Candelaria, Arafo

Out · last detection 23 Aug 2023, 03:32 UTC

The fire started on 16 August 2023 in Arafo, Spain, and satellites saw it burning for 12 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 12,052 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 12 municipalities.

The largest in Spain in 2023, of 124.

Burnt area: 12,052ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: 12days; 16 Aug 2023 – 27 Aug 2023
Municipalities hit: 12; municipalities
Started on: 16 Aug; 2023
Heat detections: 1,025; in a single hotspot: 319 MW
Danger at start: 30; High · FWI index
Energy released: 22.7GW; sum of detected power

Play back 23 Aug 2023

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 16 Aug27 Aug

How it evolved, day by day

1617181920212223

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

The weather it burned in

29°high

59km/h · peak gust

23%lowest humidity

It had gone 2 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

0% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2 ha in 2022.

2 ha Los Realejos fire, July 2022 2,846 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire

What happened to each town

La Orotava

4,113 ha reached on 16 Aug

20 %
Candelaria 29,023 inhabitants · 4.2 km from the town

1,724 ha reached on 16 Aug

35 %
Arafo 5,945 inhabitants · 2.2 km from the town where it started

1,595 ha reached on 16 Aug

46 %
Los Realejos 42,514 inhabitants · 1.1 km from the town

1,084 ha reached on 20 Aug

19 %
Güímar 22,009 inhabitants · 4.2 km from the town

828 ha reached on 18 Aug

8.0 %
Santa Úrsula 15,429 inhabitants · 1.8 km from the town

823 ha reached on 16 Aug

37 %
La Victoria de Acentejo 9,448 inhabitants · 2.3 km from the town

789 ha reached on 16 Aug

43 %
El Rosario 17,958 inhabitants · 1.2 km from the town

455 ha reached on 17 Aug

12 %
La Matanza de Acentejo 9,089 inhabitants · 0.5 km from the town

259 ha reached on 16 Aug

18 %
El Sauzal 9,345 inhabitants · 3.0 km from the town

236 ha reached on 17 Aug

13 %
Tacoronte 24,619 inhabitants · 2.8 km from the town

119 ha reached on 17 Aug

4.0 %
Fasnia 3,145 inhabitants · 8.1 km from the town

74 ha reached on 21 Aug

1.6 %

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

Coniferous forest70 %
Other natural land21 %
Mixed forest3.1 %
Broadleaved forest2.4 %
Scrub and transitional woodland1.9 %
Agricultural areas1.5 %

Natura 2000 protected area affected: 94 %

LIC Corona Forestal ES7020054
LIC La Resbala ES7020075
LIC Las Lagunetas ES7020069
LIC Las Palomas ES7020053
ZEPA Montes y cumbre de Tenerife ES0000107
LIC Parque Nacional del Teide ES7020043
LIC Pinoleris ES7020047

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.

Checked against the press

Checked on 30 September 2026

We checked this page against 4 sources published once the fire was out. This is what they add:

Also known as: Incendio de Tenerife · Incendio de Arafo · Incendio de Candelaria; Declared extinguished: 10 November 2023

Sources

Incendio de Arafo-Candelaria, en Tenerife — CSIC Delegación en Canarias, 12 September 2023 · official source
Restauración de los terrenos del Parque Nacional del Teide afectados por el incendio de Arafo-Candelaria 2023 — MITECO (Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica) · official source
Dan por extinguido el incendio de Tenerife, con 12.000 hectáreas afectadas — Diario de Avisos, 10 November 2023
Cronología del gran incendio de Tenerife: tres años de la tragedia que cambió los montes de la Isla — Diario de Avisos

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)
16 Aug	24.4 °C	37 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
17 Aug	24.7 °C	35 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
18 Aug	26.6 °C	26 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
19 Aug	27.7 °C	24 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
20 Aug	26.3 °C	31 %	42 km/h	0.5 mm	High 32
21 Aug	26.9 °C	36 %	35 km/h	0.5 mm	High 30
22 Aug	29.0 °C	23 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
23 Aug	27.7 °C	27 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
24 Aug	28.6 °C	26 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
25 Aug	28.4 °C	27 %	45 km/h	1.5 mm	Moderate 17
26 Aug	27.1 °C	39 %	48 km/h	0.6 mm	High 23
27 Aug	24.2 °C	44 %	59 km/h	0.0 mm	High 28
28 Aug after	21.4 °C	45 %	61 km/h	0.0 mm	High 29
29 Aug after	20.5 °C	55 %	52 km/h	0.0 mm	High 24
30 Aug after	21.1 °C	52 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
31 Aug after	21.5 °C	47 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 21
1 Sept after	21.4 °C	51 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
2 Sept after	21.8 °C	56 %	38 km/h	0.6 mm	Moderate 18
3 Sept after	20.0 °C	50 %	31 km/h	0.8 mm	Moderate 13
4 Sept after	19.2 °C	53 %	26 km/h	0.6 mm	Moderate 12
5 Sept after	20.5 °C	52 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 15
6 Sept after	22.5 °C	47 %	26 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.

↔

Before · 9 Aug 2023

After · 3 Sept 2023

Before After

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 19 August 2023 the air beside the fire reached 186 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 63: 4.2 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak186 µg/m³

Days over the guideline10 days

PM10279 µg/m³

Optical depth1.29

WHO 15

1415161718192021222324252627282930

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 · 1,025Every 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 time	Satellite	FRP (MW)	Lat	Lon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Spain ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Arafo fire last?: Copernicus dates it between 16 August 2023 and 27 August 2023: 12 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 12,052 hectares (120.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 12 municipalities: La Orotava (4,113 ha, 20 %); Candelaria (1,724 ha, 35 %); Arafo (1,595 ha, 46 %); Los Realejos (1,084 ha, 19 %); Güímar (828 ha, 8.0 %); Santa Úrsula (823 ha, 37 %); La Victoria de Acentejo (789 ha, 43 %); El Rosario (455 ha, 12 %); La Matanza de Acentejo (259 ha, 18 %); El Sauzal (236 ha, 13 %); Tacoronte (119 ha, 4.0 %); Fasnia (74 ha, 1.6 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.5 km of La Matanza de Acentejo. 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 29.0 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 59 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 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

MITECO · Incendios forestales ↗
Protección Civil ↗

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · Copernicus ↗

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.

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What really happened?

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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.

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.

Where it burned