Cáceres fire, June 2024 Cáceres
The fire started on 24 June 2024 in Cáceres, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 48 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 34,393 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
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 83th largest in Mato Grosso since 2016 (of 1996 with a page). Number 85 in Brazil in 2024, of 1301.
Compare with…
- Burnt area
- 34,393ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 48days
- 24 Jun 2024 – 10 Aug 2024
- Municipalities hit
- 1
- municipalities
- Started on
- 24 Jun
- 2024
- Heat detections
- 1,671
- in a single hotspot: 642 MW
- Danger at start
- 29
- High · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 1.1GW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 30 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
93% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 59 ha in 2016, 1,023 ha in 2017, 181 ha in 2018, 3,812 ha in 2019, 24,004 ha in 2020, 20,407 ha in 2021, 834 ha in 2022, 10,976 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 31,951 ha that had burned before.
- 8,691 ha Cáceres fire, July 2020 19,277 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 7,623 ha San Matías fire, September 2020 14,066 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 5,807 ha San Matías fire, August 2021 58,198 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 5,604 ha San Matías fire, July 2021 7,358 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 4,688 ha San Matías fire, November 2023 25,485 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,461 ha San Matías fire, November 2023 4,965 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,859 ha Cáceres fire, August 2021 10,662 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 1,487 ha Cáceres fire, August 2021 28,340 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
12,372 ha reached on 24 Jun0.5 %
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 2025Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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)
| Day | High | Min. humidity | Peak gust | Rain | Danger (FWI) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Jun | 34.9 °C | 42 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 25 Jun | 31.0 °C | 48 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 26 Jun | 26.9 °C | 51 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 27 Jun | 28.7 °C | 49 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 24 |
| 28 Jun | 34.3 °C | 33 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 29 Jun | 26.8 °C | 50 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 30 Jun | 19.9 °C | 42 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 1 Jul | 27.9 °C | 38 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 23 |
| 2 Jul | 33.7 °C | 37 % | 17 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 3 Jul | 35.3 °C | 28 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 4 Jul | 35.5 °C | 32 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 5 Jul | 35.6 °C | 34 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 6 Jul | 27.4 °C | 41 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 7 Jul | 28.5 °C | 42 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 8 Jul | 20.1 °C | 50 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 9 Jul | 19.4 °C | 53 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 22 |
| 10 Jul | 21.7 °C | 50 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Moderate 21 |
| 11 Jul | 29.6 °C | 40 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 12 Jul | 19.3 °C | 52 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 27 |
| 13 Jul | 21.9 °C | 39 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 25 |
| 14 Jul | 23.4 °C | 37 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 15 Jul | 26.5 °C | 36 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 26 |
| 16 Jul | 29.8 °C | 34 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 28 |
| 17 Jul | 33.3 °C | 35 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 27 |
| 18 Jul | 34.3 °C | 30 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 19 Jul | 35.3 °C | 24 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 20 Jul | 35.5 °C | 20 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 21 Jul | 35.4 °C | 21 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 22 Jul | 34.0 °C | 23 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 23 Jul | 34.9 °C | 25 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 24 Jul | 35.5 °C | 21 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 25 Jul | 35.4 °C | 29 % | 14 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 26 Jul | 36.2 °C | 27 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 27 Jul | 36.8 °C | 23 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 28 Jul | 36.2 °C | 19 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 29 Jul | 34.6 °C | 28 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 30 Jul | 27.7 °C | 51 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 31 Jul | 35.3 °C | 34 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 30 |
| 1 Aug | 37.1 °C | 27 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 2 Aug | 37.3 °C | 23 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 3 Aug | 37.2 °C | 25 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 4 Aug | 37.5 °C | 22 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 5 Aug | 36.9 °C | 26 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 6 Aug | 35.6 °C | 17 % | 49 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 55 |
| 7 Aug | 37.1 °C | 23 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 8 Aug | 27.1 °C | 51 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 9 Aug | 16.1 °C | 45 % | 45 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 28 |
| 10 Aug | 23.2 °C | 23 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 31 |
| 11 Aug after | 28.6 °C | 23 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 12 Aug after | 29.2 °C | 21 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 13 Aug after | 29.9 °C | 23 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 14 Aug after | 34.4 °C | 22 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 15 Aug after | 37.7 °C | 23 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 16 Aug after | 38.7 °C | 26 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 17 Aug after | 39.6 °C | 25 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 18 Aug after | 38.3 °C | 26 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 19 Aug after | 38.3 °C | 28 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 20 Aug after | 39.0 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
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 · CopernicusOn 25 July 2024 the air beside the fire reached 182 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 79: 5.3 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
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 · 1,671Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Cáceres fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 24 June 2024 to 10 August 2024 (48 days). The perimeter dates it from 1 July 2024 to 4 August 2024.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 34,393 hectares (343.9 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire only entered Cáceres (12,372 ha, 0.5 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 37.5 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 55, 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.
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 1 July 2024 to 4 August 2024. 1,671 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.
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.