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Brejo do Piauí fire, 28 August 2021 Tamboril do Piauí, Brejo do Piauí, Jurema

Out · last detection 8 Oct 2021, 16:44 UTC

The fire started on 28 August 2021 in Brejo do Piauí, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 42 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 47,906 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 3th largest in Piaui since 2016 (of 805 with a page). Number 12 in Brazil in 2021, of 814.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Tamboril do Piauí · 2017Tamboril do Piauí · 2021São Braz do Piauí · 2016Jurema · 2018

Burnt area
47,906ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
42days
28 Aug 2021 – 8 Oct 2021
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
28 Aug
2021
Heat detections
2,660
in a single hotspot: 273 MW
Danger at start
52
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
799MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 28 Aug8 Oct
8 Oct 2021

How it evolved, day by day

28 Aug 2021 · 16 MW · 3 29 Aug 2021 · 274 MW · 22 30 Aug 2021 · 98 MW · 11 31 Aug 2021 · 6 MW · 9 1 Sept 2021 · 92 MW · 17 3 Sept 2021 · 70 MW · 15 4 Sept 2021 · 191 MW · 15 5 Sept 2021 · 19 MW · 9 6 Sept 2021 · 290 MW · 28 7 Sept 2021 · 567 MW · 65 8 Sept 2021 · 2,573 MW · 122 9 Sept 2021 · 1,394 MW · 144 10 Sept 2021 · 4,449 MW · 268 11 Sept 2021 · 3,093 MW · 239 12 Sept 2021 · 4,257 MW · 206 13 Sept 2021 · 1,308 MW · 122 14 Sept 2021 · 788 MW · 50 15 Sept 2021 · 1,378 MW · 92 16 Sept 2021 · 2,237 MW · 181 17 Sept 2021 · 1,329 MW · 140 18 Sept 2021 · 1,594 MW · 120 19 Sept 2021 · 901 MW · 123 20 Sept 2021 · 1,108 MW · 104 21 Sept 2021 · 872 MW · 118 22 Sept 2021 · 1,170 MW · 165 23 Sept 2021 · 253 MW · 55 24 Sept 2021 · 269 MW · 18 25 Sept 2021 · 214 MW · 29 26 Sept 2021 · 403 MW · 27 27 Sept 2021 · 65 MW · 21 28 Sept 2021 · 498 MW · 52 29 Sept 2021 · 324 MW · 19 30 Sept 2021 · 11 MW · 1 1 Oct 2021 · 37 MW · 5 2 Oct 2021 · 14 MW · 4 3 Oct 2021 · 108 MW · 5 4 Oct 2021 · 177 MW · 16 5 Oct 2021 · 84 MW · 11 6 Oct 2021 · 209 MW · 6 7 Oct 2021 · 8 MW · 2 8 Oct 2021 · 5 MW · 1
28 Aug 4 Sept 10 Sept 16 Sept 22 Sept 28 Sept 4 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

40°high
50km/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

4% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,990 ha in 2016, 41 ha in 2017.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 30% of the area of London (479 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. Tamboril do Piauí 2,949 inhabitants
    39,627 ha reached on 28 Aug
    25 %
  2. Brejo do Piauí 3,904 inhabitants where it started
    5,812 ha reached on 28 Aug
    2.6 %
  3. Jurema 4,425 inhabitants
    2,787 ha reached on 25 Sept
    2.2 %

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 area3.7 ha
Residents≈ 150

Inside the perimeter there were about 3.7 hectares of built-up land and about 150 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)
28 Aug 35.7 °C 28 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
29 Aug 35.8 °C 25 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
30 Aug 35.2 °C 27 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
31 Aug 34.3 °C 28 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
1 Sept 34.2 °C 29 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
2 Sept 34.4 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
3 Sept 36.3 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
4 Sept 36.1 °C 29 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
5 Sept 36.9 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
6 Sept 37.6 °C 25 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
7 Sept 38.6 °C 15 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
8 Sept 36.4 °C 22 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
9 Sept 37.7 °C 18 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
10 Sept 38.8 °C 18 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
11 Sept 38.2 °C 16 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
12 Sept 37.5 °C 15 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
13 Sept 36.9 °C 21 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
14 Sept 37.5 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
15 Sept 38.3 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
16 Sept 37.8 °C 14 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
17 Sept 36.5 °C 18 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
18 Sept 36.5 °C 16 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
19 Sept 37.9 °C 18 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
20 Sept 38.6 °C 15 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
21 Sept 38.2 °C 13 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
22 Sept 39.7 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
23 Sept 36.1 °C 30 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
24 Sept 35.8 °C 30 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
25 Sept 35.7 °C 29 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
26 Sept 37.0 °C 26 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
27 Sept 37.2 °C 23 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
28 Sept 37.4 °C 17 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
29 Sept 36.2 °C 24 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
30 Sept 36.1 °C 28 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
1 Oct 35.9 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
2 Oct 37.5 °C 23 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
3 Oct 36.8 °C 23 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
4 Oct 38.3 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
5 Oct 38.8 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
6 Oct 38.8 °C 13 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
7 Oct 38.3 °C 16 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
8 Oct 39.3 °C 17 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
9 Oct after 37.9 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
10 Oct after 37.5 °C 24 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
11 Oct after 35.9 °C 29 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
12 Oct after 35.7 °C 33 % 26 km/h 0.3 mm High 35
13 Oct after 36.0 °C 32 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm High 38
14 Oct after 37.5 °C 24 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
15 Oct after 37.0 °C 27 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
16 Oct after 38.1 °C 21 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
17 Oct after 37.8 °C 24 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
18 Oct after 36.9 °C 24 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 21 Aug 2021
After · 15 Oct 2021

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 · 2,660Every 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?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 28 August 2021 to 8 October 2021 (42 days). The perimeter dates it from 28 August 2021 to 7 October 2021.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 47,906 hectares (479.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Tamboril do Piauí (39,627 ha, 25 %); Brejo do Piauí (5,812 ha, 2.6 %); Jurema (2,787 ha, 2.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.7 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 7 October 2021 → 8 October 2021.

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.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 28 August 2021 to 7 October 2021. 2,660 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.