The fire started on 9 March 2022 in Cravo Norte, Colombia, and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,057 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.
It is the 66th largest in Arauca since 2016 (of 99 with a page). Number 94 in Colombia in 2022, of 160.
The power measured by the satellite is low (11.4 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
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Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
2,057ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page2,057UNGRD4,500
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
9 Mar 2022 – 15 Mar 2022
+− cross-check
UNGRD: 4,500 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: −54.3%. Matched on 8 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
7days
9 Mar 2022 to 15 Mar 2022: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 12 Mar 2022, 18:23 UTC
+− 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
9 Mar 2022
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
9 Mar 2022
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
30
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 11 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
9 Mar 2022 – 15 Mar 2022
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
78MW
Total radiative power on 9 March 2022; hotspots that day: 21.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
9 Mar 2022
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
28.0FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 6.
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
33.7°C · 50% RH
High of 33.7 °C and minimum humidity of 50% on 12 March 2022; gusts of 43 km/h on 10 March 2022.
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 UNGRD record
Nearby records with very different figures: 4,500 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
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
34°high
43km/h · peak gust
42%lowest humidity
It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 7.0 mm on 16 Mar.
This area had burned before
78% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 739 ha in 2016, 1,190 ha in 2020. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 1,607 ha that had burned before.
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.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2020
Built-up area< 0.1ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2020, satellite-based estimate).
This is an estimate on 100 m cells, made from satellite imagery and census data: it does not mean that homes burned or that anyone was harmed. The perimeter also contains land that never burned.
According to UNGRD, a fire of 4,500 ha was recorded in Cravo Norte on 7 March 2022 (the satellite measured 2,057 ha). The record has no coordinates, so it was matched by municipality and date. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
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)
9 Mar
33.5 °C
45 %
37 km/h
0.4 mm
High 28
10 Mar
33.4 °C
47 %
43 km/h
0.7 mm
High 31
11 Mar
32.8 °C
51 %
40 km/h
4.0 mm
High 24
12 Mar
33.7 °C
50 %
41 km/h
1.9 mm
Low 9
13 Mar
32.7 °C
53 %
34 km/h
3.9 mm
Low 6
14 Mar
31.9 °C
49 %
34 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 16
15 Mar
33.1 °C
42 %
35 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 21
16 Mar after
34.4 °C
47 %
41 km/h
7.0 mm
High 24
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 28.0, a minimum humidity of 45% and 6 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.
FWI at the start28.0
Minimum humidity45 %
Days without rain6
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Cravo Norte fire, 9 March 2022
2,057 ha7 daysFWI 28.0Min. humidity 45 %
Arauca fire, January 2024
2,046 ha6 daysFWI 28.7Min. humidity 45 %30 km away, in 2024
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It burned an area similar to its twins (2,057 ha against a median of 2,575 ha) and lasted 7 days, against 6 days.
In 14 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 2.2 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
7.0 mmfirst rain
16 Marthe day after it ended
43km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 15 Mar, and on 16 Mar 7.0 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 9 of 23, with a median of 2.2 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.
GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 9 March 2022 and 15 March 2022: 7 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 2,057 hectares (20.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Cravo Norte (2,071 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.7 °C, humidity dropped to 42 % and gusts hit 43 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 31, class High.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Colombia (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 6 days and their median area 2,575 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. In 14 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 2.2 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: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 30 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with UNGRD: 4,500 official ha against 2,057 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
Built-up area and population come from the JRC Global Human Settlement Layer (epoch 2020, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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 ADM2 (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 from each country’s official figure.