How long did the Cinfães fire last?

According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 27 March 2026 to 5 April 2026 (10 days). The perimeter dates it from 27 March 2026 to 27 March 2026. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 26 March 2026 at 20:11 and declared extinguished on 26 March 2026.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 153 hectares (1.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 4 municipalities: Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires (107 ha, 2.9 %); Tendais (44 ha, 1.4 %); Parada de Ester e Ester (2 ha, 0.0 %); Cabril (0 ha, 0.0 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The closest fire to a town centre came within 2.6 km of Tendais. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 13.6 °C, humidity dropped to 39 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 5, class Low.

Where does this data come from?

From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

PT · Portugal · 2026-03-27 → 2026-04-05

Cinfães fire, March 2026 Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires, Tendais, Parada de Ester e Ester

Out · last detection 27 Mar 2026, 14:01 UTC

The fire started on 27 March 2026 in Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 10 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 153 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 4 municipalities. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 26 March 2026 at 20:11 and declared extinguished on 26 March 2026.

It is the 23th largest in Cinfães since 2016 (of 30 with a page). Number 57 in Portugal in 2026, of 78.

The power measured by the satellite is low (2.9 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Cinfães · 2016 Pinheiro · 2017 Castro Daire · 2024 Chave · 2017

Burnt area: 153ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: 10days; 27 Mar 2026 – 5 Apr 2026
Municipalities hit: 4; freguesias
Started on: 27 Mar; 2026
Heat detections: 7; in a single hotspot: 3 MW
Danger at start: 5; Low · FWI index
Average daily power: 12MW; detected power per day, on average

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 27 Mar5 Apr

How it evolved, day by day

27 Mar 2026 · 12 MW · 7

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

14°high

50km/h · peak gust

39%lowest humidity

It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.9 mm on 6 Apr.

This area had burned before

42% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 45 ha in 2016, 13 ha in 2017, 1 ha in 2020, 13 ha in 2023, 10 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 65 ha that had burned before.

What happened to each town

Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires 517 inhabitants · 5.9 km from the town where it started

107 ha reached on 27 Mar

2.9 %
Tendais 697 inhabitants · 2.6 km from the town

44 ha reached on 27 Mar

1.4 %
Parada de Ester e Ester 744 inhabitants · 3.6 km from the town

2 ha

0.0 %
Cabril 5.4 km from the town

0 ha

0.0 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official perimeter with administrative boundaries. The distance is from the town centre to the nearest fire: staying a kilometre away does not mean it reached the houses.

What burned

Other natural land100 %

Natura 2000 protected area affected: 100 %

LIC Serra de Montemuro PTCON0025

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

Complex of 2 fires according to ICNF

According to ICNF, 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 151 ha (the satellite measured 153 ha).

ICNF records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.

When each one burned

1 143 ha 2 8 ha

26 Mar28 Mar

negligence

1 Cinfães Alhões 26 March 2026 · 20:11 143 ha · extinguished on 26 March 2026 · cause: negligence
2 Castro Daire Cabril 27 March 2026 · 14:25 8 ha · extinguished on 27 March 2026 · cause: negligence

Total according to ICNF: 151 ha, 99 % of the 153 ha in the satellite perimeter.

ICNF (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas). This is the agency’s operational record: its figures may be revised when the year’s statistics are closed.

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)
27 Mar	13.6 °C	39 %	50 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 5
28 Mar	14.1 °C	38 %	52 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 6
29 Mar	12.8 °C	34 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 5
30 Mar	14.8 °C	35 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 6
31 Mar	17.7 °C	34 %	40 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 7
1 Apr	16.3 °C	33 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 8
2 Apr	16.3 °C	34 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 7
3 Apr	17.7 °C	29 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 8
4 Apr	19.6 °C	34 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 9
5 Apr	20.7 °C	32 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 8
6 Apr after	21.1 °C	21 %	56 km/h	3.9 mm	Very low 3

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 20 Mar 2026

After · 12 Apr 2026

Before After

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 25 March 2026 the air beside the fire reached 17 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak17 µg/m³

Days over the guideline0 days

PM1021 µg/m³

Optical depth0.20

WHO 15

252627282930

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 · 7Every 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 time	Satellite	FRP (MW)	Lat	Lon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Portugal ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Cinfães fire last?: According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 27 March 2026 to 5 April 2026 (10 days). The perimeter dates it from 27 March 2026 to 27 March 2026. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 26 March 2026 at 20:11 and declared extinguished on 26 March 2026.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 153 hectares (1.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 4 municipalities: Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires (107 ha, 2.9 %); Tendais (44 ha, 1.4 %); Parada de Ester e Ester (2 ha, 0.0 %); Cabril (0 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The closest fire to a town centre came within 2.6 km of Tendais. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 13.6 °C, humidity dropped to 39 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 5, class Low.
Where does this data come from?: From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (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: 112

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · Copernicus ↗

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?

Dates or duration Place or towns Burned area Name It was not a wildfire Same fire as another page Something else

What really happened?

Your connection to the fire (optional) Email (optional)

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 112.

How we know this

Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 27 March 2026 to 27 March 2026. 7 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 151 official ha against 153 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

Where this data comes from

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 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). 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.

Where it burned