Custonaci fire, 20 July 2025 San Vito Lo Capo, Custonaci, Castellammare del Golfo
The fire started on 20 July 2025 in Custonaci, Italy, and satellites saw it burning for 7 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 5,542 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 4 municipalities.
It is the largest fire in Trapani since 2016 (of 68 with a page). The largest in Italy in 2025, of 216.
Compare with…
- Burnt area
- 5,542ha
- Copernicus perimeter
- Duration
- 7days
- 20 Jul 2025 – 26 Jul 2025
- Municipalities hit
- 4
- municipalities
- Started on
- 20 Jul
- 2025
- Heat detections
- 15
- in a single hotspot: 83 MW
- Danger at start
- 32
- High · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 74MW
- detected power per day, on average
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 15 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
84% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 3,166 ha in 2017, 186 ha in 2019, 2,749 ha in 2020, 480 ha in 2021, 501 ha in 2022, 1,102 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 4,639 ha that had burned before.
- 2,732 ha Custonaci fire, July 2017 3,195 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 2,337 ha San Vito Lo Capo fire, August 2020 3,057 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 859 ha Custonaci fire, September 2023 1,022 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 434 ha San Vito Lo Capo fire, July 2017 766 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 279 ha Custonaci fire, July 2021 360 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 209 ha Custonaci fire, July 2020 228 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 201 ha Castellammare del Golfo fire, September 2021 204 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 184 ha Custonaci fire, July 2022 197 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Rome boundary: geoBoundaries · ISTAT, National Institute of Statistics (CC BY 3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
San Vito Lo Capo 4,814 inhabitants · 2.1 km from the centre2,665 ha44 %
-
2,041 ha reached on 20 Jul29 %
-
Castellammare del Golfo 14,610 inhabitants · 8.7 km from the centre818 ha reached on 25 Jul6.4 %
-
Buseto Palizzolo 2,761 inhabitants · 0.9 km from the centre16 ha0.2 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.
What burned
- Other natural land61 %
- Sclerophyllous scrub26 %
- Agricultural areas12 %
- Coniferous forest1.1 %
Natura 2000 protected area affected: 89 %
- LIC Capo San Vito, Monte Monaco, Zingaro, Faraglioni Scopello, Monte Sparacio ITA010017
- LIC Fondali dello Zingaro ITA010032
- ZEPA Monte Cofano, Capo San Vito e Monte Sparagio ITA010029
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.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2025Inside the perimeter there were about 4.7 hectares of built-up land and about 80 residents (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.
Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu
Checked against the press
Checked on 29 September 2026We checked this page against 4 sources published once the fire was out. This is what they add:
- Also known as
- Incendio di Monte Cofano · Incendi nel Trapanese · Incendio Custonaci-San Vito Lo Capo
- According to the sources, several fires that ended up merging:
- Buseto Palizzolo / Castellammare del Golfo / Custonaci / San Vito Lo Capo 20 July 2025 5,500 ha
- Curve di Biro 25 July 2025
- Official area reported: 5,500 ha (the satellite measured 5,542 ha)
Sources
- Aggiornamento Incendi del 25 luglio 2025 — Protezione Civile Regione Siciliana, 25 July 2025 · official source
- Aggiornamento incendi 2025 in Italia: aumentano le superfici in fumo... — ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) · official source
- Monte Cofano in fiamme: il vasto incendio ripreso dal drone — Il Fatto Quotidiano, 26 July 2025
- Incendi nel Trapanese: devastazione da Castelluzzo allo Zingaro — MarsalaLive, 26 July 2025
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 Jul | 32.9 °C | 41 % | 49 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 21 Jul | 36.6 °C | 30 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 22 Jul | 32.0 °C | 36 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 23 Jul | 35.7 °C | 27 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 35 |
| 24 Jul | 37.6 °C | 21 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 25 Jul | 39.2 °C | 18 % | 50 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 26 Jul | 31.7 °C | 42 % | 43 km/h | 0.2 mm | Very high 38 |
| 27 Jul after | 28.9 °C | 45 % | 48 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 28 Jul after | 27.8 °C | 45 % | 62 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 29 Jul after | 26.7 °C | 48 % | 52 km/h | 0.4 mm | High 34 |
| 30 Jul after | 27.5 °C | 48 % | 39 km/h | 0.3 mm | High 28 |
| 31 Jul after | 27.7 °C | 44 % | 39 km/h | 0.1 mm | High 28 |
| 1 Aug after | 30.2 °C | 35 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 29 |
| 2 Aug after | 29.9 °C | 33 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 32 |
| 3 Aug after | 29.8 °C | 38 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 33 |
| 4 Aug after | 27.6 °C | 41 % | 50 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 5 Aug after | 28.3 °C | 41 % | 49 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
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.
The smoke
CAMS · CopernicusOn 28 July 2025 the air beside the fire reached 12 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
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 · 15Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 3,195 haCustonaciJuly 2017 · 2 days · 1 km away
- 1,022 haCustonaciSeptember 2023 · 2 days · 3 km away
- 3,057 haSan Vito Lo CapoAugust 2020 · 3 days · 4 km away
- 1,100 haSan Vito Lo CapoJuly 2023 · 1 day · 8 km away
- 1,551 haBuseto PalizzoloAugust 2022 · 2 days · 12 km away
- 1,226 haSalemiJune 2026 · 5 days · 21 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Custonaci fire last?
- Copernicus dates it between 20 July 2025 and 26 July 2025: 7 days between the first and last image with fire.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 5,542 hectares (55.4 km²). Official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 4 municipalities: San Vito Lo Capo (2,665 ha, 44 %); Custonaci (2,041 ha, 29 %); Castellammare del Golfo (818 ha, 6.4 %); Buseto Palizzolo (16 ha, 0.2 %).
- Did the fire reach a town?
- The fire came within 0.9 km of the centre of Buseto Palizzolo, the closest of the areas it touched. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 39.2 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 54, class Extreme.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Italy (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 · 1515 · 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.
No changes 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
How we know this
- Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
- Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 15 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
- We have not matched this page with any official record.
- Checked against news and agencies: 4 confirmed sources.
- 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 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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 ADM4 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License). 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.