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BO · Bolivia · –

Concepción fire, 5 September 2017 San Ignacio, Concepción

Out · last detection 25 Sept 2017, 17:20 UTC

The fire started on 5 September 2017 in Concepción, Bolivia, and satellites saw it burning for 21 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 15,095 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 143th largest in Santa Cruz since 2016 (of 785 with a page). Number 11 in Bolivia in 2017, of 123.

Burnt area
15,095ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
21days
5 Sept 2017 – 25 Sept 2017
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
5 Sept
2017
Heat detections
763
in a single hotspot: 105 MW
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index
Average daily power
256MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 5 Sept25 Sept
25 Sept 2017

How it evolved, day by day

5 Sept 2017 · 28 MW · 5 6 Sept 2017 · 222 MW · 35 7 Sept 2017 · 998 MW · 92 8 Sept 2017 · 644 MW · 142 9 Sept 2017 · 90 MW · 21 11 Sept 2017 · 5 MW · 1 12 Sept 2017 · 3 MW · 1 13 Sept 2017 · 255 MW · 41 14 Sept 2017 · 252 MW · 29 15 Sept 2017 · 51 MW · 2 16 Sept 2017 · 79 MW · 11 17 Sept 2017 · 351 MW · 59 18 Sept 2017 · 1,320 MW · 173 19 Sept 2017 · 294 MW · 64 20 Sept 2017 · 268 MW · 35 21 Sept 2017 · 3 MW · 1 22 Sept 2017 · 86 MW · 13 23 Sept 2017 · 6 MW · 5 24 Sept 2017 · 136 MW · 29 25 Sept 2017 · 25 MW · 4
5 Sept 9 Sept 14 Sept 18 Sept 22 Sept

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
54km/h · peak gust
30%lowest humidity

It had gone 15 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 8.9 mm on 27 Sept.

This area had burned before

2% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 265 ha in 2016.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 9.5% of the area of London (151 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. San Ignacio 56,702 inhabitants
    8,206 ha
    0.2 %
  2. Concepción 93,392 inhabitants where it started
    7,112 ha
    0.2 %

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.

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)
5 Sept 28.7 °C 43 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
6 Sept 33.9 °C 35 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
7 Sept 34.7 °C 31 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
8 Sept 35.4 °C 33 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
9 Sept 34.6 °C 42 % 50 km/h 0.4 mm High 32
10 Sept 34.3 °C 48 % 50 km/h 1.0 mm High 31
11 Sept 25.8 °C 77 % 26 km/h 17.0 mm Very low 0
12 Sept 31.5 °C 50 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very low 1
13 Sept 34.7 °C 45 % 30 km/h 0.2 mm Low 9
14 Sept 34.8 °C 47 % 40 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 15
15 Sept 35.0 °C 35 % 48 km/h 0.7 mm Moderate 14
16 Sept 25.2 °C 47 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
17 Sept 28.5 °C 41 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
18 Sept 34.1 °C 36 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
19 Sept 35.9 °C 34 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
20 Sept 36.6 °C 30 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
21 Sept 35.0 °C 41 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
22 Sept 31.1 °C 47 % 25 km/h 0.5 mm Moderate 21
23 Sept 32.4 °C 41 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
24 Sept 34.4 °C 42 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
25 Sept 34.8 °C 41 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
26 Sept after 30.7 °C 51 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
27 Sept after 33.0 °C 48 % 32 km/h 8.9 mm High 23

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 29.7, a minimum humidity of 43% and 15 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.

FWI at the start 29.7
Minimum humidity 43 %
Days without rain 15
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

San Miguel fire, July 2019
113,698 ha 73 days FWI 27.8 Min. humidity 44 % 62 km away, in 2019

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 12.1 mm on 5 Oct.

What happened to them

15 days
median duration
4,827 ha
median area
13 %
went past 10,000 ha
5.6 mm
rain at the end (median; 22 of 23 had it)

It was 3.1 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 21 days, against 15 days.

Only 2 of its 23 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 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 5.6 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

8.9 mmfirst rain
27 Sept2 days after it ended
54km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 25 Sept, and on 27 Sept 8.9 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 22 of 23, with a median of 5.6 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 29 Aug 2017
After · 2 Oct 2017

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 · 763Every 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?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 5 September 2017 to 25 September 2017 (21 days). The perimeter dates it from 6 September 2017 to 24 September 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 15,095 hectares (151.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: San Ignacio (8,206 ha, 0.2 %); Concepción (7,112 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.6 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 54 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 35, class 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.
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 15 days and their median area 4,827 ha; 13 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 2 of its 23 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 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 5.6 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.

Emergency number: 119 · 110 · 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.

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.

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 6 September 2017 to 24 September 2017. 763 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.

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 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.