Copernal fire, July 2022 Espinosa de Henares, Copernal, Alarilla
The fire started on 25 July 2022 in Copernal, Spain, and satellites saw it burning for 2 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 1,562 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 6 municipalities.
Number 35 in Spain in 2022, of 196.
The power measured by the satellite is low (2.2 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
- Burnt area
- 1,562ha
- Copernicus perimeter
- Duration
- 2days
- 25 Jul 2022 – 26 Jul 2022
- Municipalities hit
- 6
- municipalities
- Started on
- 25 Jul
- 2022
- Heat detections
- 15
- in a single hotspot: 2 MW
- Danger at start
- 58
- Extreme · FWI index
- Energy released
- 21MW
- sum of detected power
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 18 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
Espinosa de Henares 715 inhabitants · 1.2 km from the town614 ha reached on 26 Jul16 %
-
580 ha reached on 26 Jul57 %
-
Alarilla 144 inhabitants · 1.4 km from the town213 ha9.5 %
-
Humanes 1,841 inhabitants · 4.3 km from the town77 ha1.6 %
-
Hita 336 inhabitants · 3.4 km from the town77 ha reached on 26 Jul1.4 %
-
Montarrón 31 inhabitants · 2.2 km from the town2 ha0.2 %
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 land49 %
- Agricultural areas29 %
- Broadleaved forest15 %
- Sclerophyllous scrub6.4 %
Natura 2000 protected area affected: 2 %
- LIC Riberas del Henares ES4240003
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 25 July 2022 and burned 975 ha (the satellite measured 1,562 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
- Humanes Picoruzo 25 July 2022 · 15:34 975 ha · extinguished on 27 July 2022 · cause: negligence
MITECO, Estadística General de Incendios Forestales (EGIF). This is the agency’s consolidated statistic: it measures the area in its own way, which is why it can differ from the satellite.
Checked against the press
Checked on 30 September 2026We checked this page against 3 sources published once the fire was out. This is what they add:
- Also known as
- Incendio de Humanes · Incendio de Cerezo de Mohernando · Incendio de Espinosa de Henares
- Official area reported: 1,600 ha (the satellite measured 1,562 ha)
- Declared extinguished: 27 July 2022
Sources
- Extinguido el incendio en Humanes (Guadalajara): los vecinos de Espinosa de Henares y Copernal, aliviados — Castilla-La Mancha Media, 27 July 2022
- Extinguido el incendio declarado en una pedanía de Humanes que ha quemado 1.600 hectáreas — elDiario.es Castilla-La Mancha, 27 July 2022
- Identificado el presunto responsable del incendio en Humanes (Guadalajara), originado por tareas agrícolas — Castilla-La Mancha Media, 26 July 2022
Official figures are measured differently from satellite ones and sometimes cover only part of the fire.
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 | 36.3 °C | 13 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 26 Jul | 34.3 °C | 22 % | 35 km/h | 0.2 mm | Very high 49 |
| 27 Jul after | 33.0 °C | 27 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 28 Jul after | 34.5 °C | 18 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 29 Jul after | 34.9 °C | 20 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 30 Jul after | 36.0 °C | 23 % | 47 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 31 Jul after | 34.8 °C | 28 % | 22 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 38 |
| 1 Aug after | 38.4 °C | 12 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 2 Aug after | 36.4 °C | 25 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 3 Aug after | 35.7 °C | 14 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 4 Aug after | 35.3 °C | 17 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 51 |
| 5 Aug after | 35.5 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
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.
Detections table · 15Every 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 Copernal fire last?
- Copernicus dates it between 25 July 2022 and 26 July 2022: 2 days between the first and last image with fire.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 1,562 hectares (15.6 km²). Official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 6 municipalities: Espinosa de Henares (614 ha, 16 %); Copernal (580 ha, 57 %); Alarilla (213 ha, 9.5 %); Humanes (77 ha, 1.6 %); Hita (77 ha, 1.4 %); Montarrón (2 ha, 0.2 %).
- Did the fire reach a town?
- The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.2 km of Copernal. 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 36.3 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 41 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 58, class Extreme.
- 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.
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
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
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 (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.