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Concepción fire, July 2019 Concepción, San Ignacio

Out · last detection 30 Sept 2019, 17:39 UTC

The fire started on 26 July 2019 in Concepción, Bolivia, and satellites saw it burning for 67 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 22,053 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.

It is the 93th largest in Santa Cruz since 2016 (of 834 with a page). Number 31 in Bolivia in 2019, of 219.

Burnt area
22,053ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
67days
26 Jul 2019 – 30 Sept 2019
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
26 Jul
2019
Heat detections
2,141
in a single hotspot: 220 MW
Danger at start
22
High · FWI index
Energy released
11.1GW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

30 Sept 2019
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 26 Jul30 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

2627282930311234567810111213141516171819202122232425262728293012345678910121314151617181920212223242527282930

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

The weather it burned in

37°high
73km/h · peak gust
20%lowest humidity

It had gone 9 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.6 mm on 1 Oct.

This area had burned before

8% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 1,507 ha in 2017, 318 ha in 2018.

What happened to each town

  1. Concepción 93,392 inhabitants where it started
    18,140 ha
    0.6 %
  2. San Ignacio 56,702 inhabitants
    4,115 ha
    0.1 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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.

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)
25 Jul 18.6 °C 55 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
26 Jul 23.8 °C 46 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
27 Jul 24.6 °C 45 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
28 Jul 30.3 °C 38 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
29 Jul 31.1 °C 38 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
30 Jul 32.0 °C 36 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
31 Jul 33.0 °C 35 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
1 Aug 32.7 °C 33 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
2 Aug 22.7 °C 24 % 73 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
3 Aug 22.3 °C 22 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
4 Aug 23.8 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
5 Aug 27.4 °C 23 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
6 Aug 31.3 °C 31 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
7 Aug 32.9 °C 35 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
8 Aug 32.8 °C 43 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
9 Aug 31.8 °C 41 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
10 Aug 27.4 °C 39 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
11 Aug 33.5 °C 31 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
12 Aug 33.8 °C 32 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
13 Aug 27.0 °C 35 % 64 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
14 Aug 25.1 °C 25 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
15 Aug 31.4 °C 28 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
16 Aug 33.8 °C 28 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
17 Aug 33.3 °C 35 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Aug 32.8 °C 43 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
19 Aug 28.9 °C 44 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
20 Aug 30.8 °C 38 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
21 Aug 32.2 °C 36 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
22 Aug 34.0 °C 39 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
23 Aug 30.6 °C 40 % 46 km/h 0.8 mm High 31
24 Aug 34.3 °C 36 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
25 Aug 34.9 °C 36 % 37 km/h 0.7 mm High 30
26 Aug 32.8 °C 45 % 43 km/h 0.9 mm High 23
27 Aug 30.1 °C 56 % 32 km/h 6.3 mm Very low 5
28 Aug 33.5 °C 40 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 16
29 Aug 34.0 °C 39 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
30 Aug 35.2 °C 38 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
31 Aug 34.8 °C 36 % 41 km/h 0.9 mm High 27
1 Sept 28.4 °C 41 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
2 Sept 32.7 °C 40 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
3 Sept 32.5 °C 40 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
4 Sept 33.2 °C 37 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
5 Sept 33.0 °C 37 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
6 Sept 35.7 °C 34 % 37 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
7 Sept 35.9 °C 32 % 49 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 39
8 Sept 36.2 °C 29 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
9 Sept 35.8 °C 30 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
10 Sept 35.3 °C 34 % 51 km/h 0.1 mm Very high 43
11 Sept 35.9 °C 41 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
12 Sept 27.0 °C 46 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
13 Sept 31.9 °C 41 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
14 Sept 35.9 °C 32 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
15 Sept 36.2 °C 33 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
16 Sept 37.1 °C 33 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
17 Sept 34.1 °C 39 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
18 Sept 34.6 °C 40 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
19 Sept 35.3 °C 44 % 66 km/h 0.5 mm Very high 43
20 Sept 32.8 °C 45 % 49 km/h 3.1 mm Moderate 12
21 Sept 32.1 °C 36 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
22 Sept 33.1 °C 33 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
23 Sept 35.8 °C 34 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
24 Sept 35.7 °C 40 % 25 km/h 2.3 mm Moderate 13
25 Sept 30.8 °C 42 % 33 km/h 3.4 mm Low 9
26 Sept 32.7 °C 33 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
27 Sept 34.7 °C 34 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
28 Sept 35.7 °C 33 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
29 Sept 35.7 °C 42 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
30 Sept 36.3 °C 41 % 51 km/h 0.7 mm High 30
1 Oct after 32.7 °C 48 % 62 km/h 2.6 mm Moderate 15

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 19 Jul 2019
After · 7 Oct 2019

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 · 2,141Every 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 Bolivia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Concepción fire last?
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 26 July 2019 and 30 September 2019: 67 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 22,053 hectares (220.5 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Concepción (18,140 ha, 0.6 %); San Ignacio (4,115 ha, 0.1 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.1 °C, humidity dropped to 20 % and gusts hit 73 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 48, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Bolivia (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: 119 · 110

Satellite cross-check

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 119 · 110.

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 ADM3 (Public Domain). 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.