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BR · Brazil · –

Balsas fire, 2 September 2025 Lizarda, Balsas, Recursolândia

Out · last detection 24 Sept 2025, 16:15 UTC

The fire started on 2 September 2025 in Balsas, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 23 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 31,197 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 7th largest in Maranhão since 2016 (of 531 with a page). Number 15 in Brazil in 2025, of 526.

Burnt area
31,197ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
23days
2 Sept 2025 – 24 Sept 2025
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
2 Sept
2025
Heat detections
803
in a single hotspot: 218 MW
Danger at start
70
Very extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
386MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 2 Sept24 Sept
24 Sept 2025

How it evolved, day by day

4 Sept 2025 · 17 MW · 9 5 Sept 2025 · 247 MW · 32 6 Sept 2025 · 236 MW · 28 7 Sept 2025 · 99 MW · 12 8 Sept 2025 · 59 MW · 14 9 Sept 2025 · 375 MW · 25 10 Sept 2025 · 536 MW · 92 11 Sept 2025 · 2,180 MW · 168 12 Sept 2025 · 1,260 MW · 134 13 Sept 2025 · 152 MW · 21 14 Sept 2025 · 550 MW · 46 15 Sept 2025 · 440 MW · 64 16 Sept 2025 · 212 MW · 55 17 Sept 2025 · 542 MW · 49 18 Sept 2025 · 304 MW · 40 19 Sept 2025 · 64 MW · 5 20 Sept 2025 · 8 MW · 1 21 Sept 2025 · 4 MW · 2 24 Sept 2025 · 56 MW · 6
4 Sept 8 Sept 11 Sept 16 Sept 20 Sept

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
55km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

65% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 4,687 ha in 2016, 5,742 ha in 2017, 2,328 ha in 2019, 10,205 ha in 2020, 991 ha in 2021, 4,494 ha in 2022, 2,204 ha in 2023, 1,008 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 20,406 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 20% of the area of London (312 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

  1. Lizarda 2,999 inhabitants
    25,539 ha reached on 5 Sept
    4.4 %
  2. Balsas 101,767 inhabitants where it started
    5,637 ha reached on 4 Sept
    0.4 %
  3. Recursolândia 3,421 inhabitants
    204 ha reached on 15 Sept
    0.1 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2025
Built-up area0.38 ha
Residents≈ 30

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.38 hectares of built-up land and about 30 residents (GHSL 2025, satellite-based estimate).

This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)

Started with Extreme FWI: 46 % of the area in Brazil Strong wind: 3.1 % of the area in Brazil 60 days without rain: 55 % of the area in Brazil

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
2 Sept 36.0 °C 24 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
3 Sept 35.3 °C 25 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
4 Sept 35.6 °C 26 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
5 Sept 35.6 °C 24 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
6 Sept 36.4 °C 20 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
7 Sept 37.7 °C 19 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
8 Sept 36.9 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
9 Sept 37.1 °C 17 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
10 Sept 39.0 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
11 Sept 38.7 °C 18 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
12 Sept 37.3 °C 20 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
13 Sept 36.2 °C 23 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
14 Sept 37.7 °C 20 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
15 Sept 38.2 °C 17 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
16 Sept 37.3 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
17 Sept 37.7 °C 22 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
18 Sept 37.5 °C 23 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
19 Sept 36.3 °C 27 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
20 Sept 35.9 °C 26 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
21 Sept 32.6 °C 41 % 28 km/h 1.0 mm High 33
22 Sept 34.3 °C 45 % 31 km/h 1.6 mm High 34
23 Sept 33.9 °C 40 % 30 km/h 0.9 mm Moderate 21
24 Sept 38.0 °C 26 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
25 Sept after 36.4 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
26 Sept after 35.9 °C 27 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
27 Sept after 35.6 °C 25 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
28 Sept after 36.6 °C 21 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
29 Sept after 37.1 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
30 Sept after 37.7 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
1 Oct after 37.5 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
2 Oct after 37.9 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
3 Oct after 37.5 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
4 Oct after 36.7 °C 22 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 70.3, a minimum humidity of 24% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 16.

FWI at the start 70.3
Minimum humidity 24 %
Days without rain 60+
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Palmas fire, September 2020
3,184 ha 9 days FWI 70.2 Min. humidity 24 % 175 km away, in 2020

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.

What happened to them

9 days
median duration
5,812 ha
median area
19 %
went past 10,000 ha
6.3 mm
rain at the end (median; 3 of 16 had it)

It was 5.4 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 23 days, against 9 days.

None of its 16 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 13 of 16, 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 6.3 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
55km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 24 Sept, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 3 of 16, with a median of 6.3 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 26 Aug 2025
After · 1 Oct 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 12 September 2025 the air beside the fire reached 62 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 39: 2.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak62 µg/m³
Days over the guideline8 days
PM1062 µg/m³
Optical depth0.73
2 Sept7 Sept12 Sept17 Sept22 Sept
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 · 803Every 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 Brazil

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Balsas fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 2 September 2025 to 24 September 2025 (23 days). The perimeter dates it from 4 September 2025 to 21 September 2025.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 31,197 hectares (312.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Lizarda (25,539 ha, 4.4 %); Balsas (5,637 ha, 0.4 %); Recursolândia (204 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.0 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 70, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Brazil (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: 16. Their median duration was 9 days and their median area 5,812 ha; 19 % went past 10,000 ha. None of its 16 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 13 of 16, 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 6.3 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.

Emergency number: 193 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 21 September 2025 → 24 September 2025.
  2. Start date: 4 September 2025 → 2 September 2025.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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 193.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 4 September 2025 to 21 September 2025. 803 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
  • We have not matched this page with any official record.
  • Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
  • Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology

Where this data comes from

The perimeter comes from the Copernicus Global Wildfire Information System (GWIS), which rebuilds it from MODIS and VIIRS heat detections and publishes it under CC BY 4.0. It is not measured on imagery as in Europe, so it is an estimate. 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 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). The area per municipality is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ from each country’s official figure.