Cangas del Narcea fire, 15 October 2017
Cangas del Narcea, Somiedo
Out · last measured on 15 Oct 2017
The fire started on 15 October 2017 in Cangas del Narcea, Spain, and satellites saw it burning for 1 day. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 249 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 65th largest in Asturias since 2016 (of 225 with a page). Number 83 in Spain in 2017, of 144.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
249ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page249EGIF (MITECO)377
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
EGIF (MITECO): 377 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: −34.0%. Matched on 1 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
1day
15 Oct 2017 to 15 Oct 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
15 Oct 2017 – 15 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
15 Oct 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
15 Oct 2017
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Danger at the start
model
13.3FWI · moderate
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 14.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
24.3°C · 27% RH
High of 24.3 °C and minimum humidity of 27% on 15 October 2017; gusts of 49 km/h on 15 October 2017.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official EGIF (MITECO) record
Nearby records with very different figures: 377 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
We have the Copernicus perimeter for this fire, but the VIIRS sensors did not capture it in enough detail: no day-by-day evolution, but the split by municipality is there.
Burnt area
249ha
Copernicus perimeter
Duration
1day
15 Oct 2017 – 15 Oct 2017
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
15 Oct
2017
Danger at start
13
Moderate · FWI index
Natura 2000
93%
of the perimeter is protected land
Where it burned
The weather it burned in
24°high
49km/h · peak gust
27%lowest humidity
It had gone 14 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.0 mm on 16 Oct.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
Cangas del Narcea11,282 inhabitants · 15.5 km from the centrewhere it started
234 ha
0.3 %
Somiedo1,031 inhabitants · 12.0 km from the centre
15 ha
0.0 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.
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.
Official record
According to EGIF (MITECO), this fire started on 15 October 2017 and burned 377 ha (the satellite measured 249 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Cangas del NarceaVache el Mediu15 October 2017 · 18:58377 ha· extinguished on 17 October 2017· cause: arson
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)
15 Oct
24.3 °C
27 %
49 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 13
16 Oct after
17.3 °C
38 %
50 km/h
2.0 mm
Very low 3
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 13.3, a minimum humidity of 27% and 14 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.
FWI at the start13.3
Minimum humidity27 %
Days without rain14
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Cangas del Narcea fire, 15 October 2017
249 ha1 dayFWI 13.3Min. humidity 27 %
Ibias fire, April 2017
594 ha3 daysFWI 13.1Min. humidity 27 %34 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.0 mm on 24 Apr.
It burned an area similar to its twins (249 ha against a median of 194 ha) and lasted 1 day, against 2 days.
In 2 of 23, 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 3.6 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
2.0 mmfirst rain
16 Octthe day after it ended
49km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 15 Oct, and on 16 Oct 2.0 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 21 of 23, with a median of 3.6 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 8 Oct 2017
After · 22 Oct 2017
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 16 October 2017 the air beside the fire reached 101 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 60: 4.0 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak101µg/m³
Days over the guideline6days
PM10146µg/m³
WHO 15
13 Oct15 Oct17 Oct
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely 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)
Copernicus dates it between 15 October 2017 and 15 October 2017: 1 day between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 249 hectares (2.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Cangas del Narcea (234 ha, 0.3 %); Somiedo (15 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire came within 12.0 km of the centre of Somiedo, the closest of the areas it touched. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 24.3 °C, humidity dropped to 27 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 13, class Moderate.
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.
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: 23. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 194 ha; 9 % went past 1,000 ha. In 2 of 23, 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 3.6 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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. No Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with EGIF (MITECO): 377 official ha against 249 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
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.