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Brejo do Piauí fire, August 2020 Brejo do Piauí, Tamboril do Piauí

Out · last detection 22 Oct 2020, 16:25 UTC

The fire started on 29 August 2020 in Brejo do Piauí, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 55 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 30,487 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the 12th largest in Piaui since 2016 (of 805 with a page). Number 47 in Brazil in 2020, of 957.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Brejo do Piauí · 2018Tamboril do Piauí · 2021João Costa · 2020São João do Piauí · 2021

Burnt area
30,487ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
55days
29 Aug 2020 – 22 Oct 2020
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
29 Aug
2020
Heat detections
1,573
in a single hotspot: 159 MW
Danger at start
48
Very high · FWI index
Average daily power
353MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 29 Aug22 Oct
22 Oct 2020

How it evolved, day by day

29 Aug 2020 · 65 MW · 11 30 Aug 2020 · 4 MW · 2 31 Aug 2020 · 51 MW · 3 1 Sept 2020 · 59 MW · 6 2 Sept 2020 · 81 MW · 7 3 Sept 2020 · 160 MW · 34 4 Sept 2020 · 198 MW · 27 5 Sept 2020 · 254 MW · 17 6 Sept 2020 · 46 MW · 15 7 Sept 2020 · 164 MW · 23 8 Sept 2020 · 211 MW · 22 9 Sept 2020 · 177 MW · 7 10 Sept 2020 · 20 MW · 5 12 Sept 2020 · 112 MW · 10 13 Sept 2020 · 137 MW · 16 14 Sept 2020 · 1 MW · 1 15 Sept 2020 · 193 MW · 8 16 Sept 2020 · 11 MW · 2 17 Sept 2020 · 251 MW · 37 18 Sept 2020 · 291 MW · 38 19 Sept 2020 · 220 MW · 31 20 Sept 2020 · 682 MW · 58 21 Sept 2020 · 749 MW · 41 22 Sept 2020 · 138 MW · 34 23 Sept 2020 · 116 MW · 19 24 Sept 2020 · 376 MW · 34 25 Sept 2020 · 204 MW · 39 27 Sept 2020 · 7 MW · 3 28 Sept 2020 · 33 MW · 11 29 Sept 2020 · 58 MW · 17 30 Sept 2020 · 803 MW · 43 1 Oct 2020 · 507 MW · 38 2 Oct 2020 · 725 MW · 54 3 Oct 2020 · 343 MW · 62 4 Oct 2020 · 253 MW · 24 5 Oct 2020 · 575 MW · 62 6 Oct 2020 · 367 MW · 56 7 Oct 2020 · 2,014 MW · 102 8 Oct 2020 · 2,831 MW · 152 9 Oct 2020 · 510 MW · 100 10 Oct 2020 · 119 MW · 45 11 Oct 2020 · 65 MW · 4 13 Oct 2020 · 23 MW · 3 14 Oct 2020 · 40 MW · 10 15 Oct 2020 · 2 MW · 1 16 Oct 2020 · 1,530 MW · 30 17 Oct 2020 · 560 MW · 30 18 Oct 2020 · 446 MW · 29 19 Oct 2020 · 864 MW · 48 20 Oct 2020 · 191 MW · 22 21 Oct 2020 · 452 MW · 66 22 Oct 2020 · 67 MW · 14
29 Aug 6 Sept 15 Sept 23 Sept 2 Oct 8 Oct 10 Oct 19 Oct

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
57km/h · peak gust
16%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 13.7 mm on 27 Oct.

This area had burned before

20% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 424 ha in 2017, 4,371 ha in 2018, 1,468 ha in 2019.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 19% of the area of London (305 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. Brejo do Piauí 3,904 inhabitants where it started
    26,932 ha reached on 29 Aug
    12 %
  2. Tamboril do Piauí 2,949 inhabitants
    3,749 ha reached on 20 Sept
    2.4 %

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 2020
Built-up area6.5 ha
Residents≈ 200

Inside the perimeter there were about 6.5 hectares of built-up land and about 200 residents (GHSL 2020, 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.

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)

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
29 Aug 34.4 °C 27 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
30 Aug 35.4 °C 22 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
31 Aug 34.6 °C 25 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
1 Sept 33.7 °C 25 % 57 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
2 Sept 33.9 °C 26 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
3 Sept 33.9 °C 29 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
4 Sept 34.9 °C 24 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
5 Sept 34.9 °C 20 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
6 Sept 34.2 °C 24 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
7 Sept 35.1 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
8 Sept 35.0 °C 29 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
9 Sept 34.9 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
10 Sept 34.8 °C 27 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
11 Sept 34.7 °C 25 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
12 Sept 34.4 °C 23 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
13 Sept 33.5 °C 25 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
14 Sept 33.7 °C 30 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
15 Sept 34.3 °C 28 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
16 Sept 34.9 °C 29 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
17 Sept 35.4 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
18 Sept 36.8 °C 24 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
19 Sept 37.1 °C 24 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
20 Sept 36.3 °C 26 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
21 Sept 37.2 °C 27 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
22 Sept 36.7 °C 27 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
23 Sept 36.3 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
24 Sept 36.1 °C 25 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
25 Sept 35.5 °C 28 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
26 Sept 34.3 °C 25 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
27 Sept 36.2 °C 25 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
28 Sept 37.5 °C 22 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
29 Sept 38.5 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
30 Sept 37.2 °C 18 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
1 Oct 36.2 °C 18 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
2 Oct 36.4 °C 18 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
3 Oct 37.1 °C 24 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
4 Oct 38.6 °C 21 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
5 Oct 37.4 °C 16 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
6 Oct 36.7 °C 16 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
7 Oct 37.8 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
8 Oct 38.8 °C 18 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
9 Oct 37.7 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
10 Oct 37.0 °C 35 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
11 Oct 33.8 °C 43 % 34 km/h 0.5 mm High 33
12 Oct 34.4 °C 39 % 34 km/h 1.9 mm Moderate 21
13 Oct 36.6 °C 16 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
14 Oct 36.3 °C 21 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
15 Oct 36.8 °C 23 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
16 Oct 38.0 °C 22 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
17 Oct 37.2 °C 16 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
18 Oct 37.1 °C 22 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
19 Oct 36.5 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
20 Oct 36.4 °C 21 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
21 Oct 36.9 °C 23 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
22 Oct 36.4 °C 26 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
23 Oct after 36.2 °C 27 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
24 Oct after 34.2 °C 38 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
25 Oct after 34.7 °C 37 % 31 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
26 Oct after 33.6 °C 47 % 28 km/h 0.7 mm High 24
27 Oct after 27.6 °C 65 % 23 km/h 13.7 mm Very low 1

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 22 Aug 2020
After · 29 Oct 2020

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 · 1,573Every 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 Brejo do Piauí fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 29 August 2020 and 22 October 2020: 55 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 30,487 hectares (304.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Brejo do Piauí (26,932 ha, 12 %); Tamboril do Piauí (3,749 ha, 2.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.8 °C, humidity dropped to 16 % and gusts hit 57 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 58, class 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.

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 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page

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; 4 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 1,573 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 2020, 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.