Dianópolis fire, August 2021 Novo Jardim, Barreiras, Dianópolis
The fire started on 27 August 2021 in Dianópolis, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 5 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,195 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.
It is the 1139th largest in Tocantins since 2016 (of 1242 with a page). Number 748 in Brazil in 2021, of 814.
- Burnt area
- 3,195ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 5days
- 27 Aug 2021 – 31 Aug 2021
- Municipalities hit
- 3
- municipalities
- Started on
- 27 Aug
- 2021
- Heat detections
- 83
- in a single hotspot: 201 MW
- Danger at start
- 44
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 1.1GW
- 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 more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
89% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,567 ha in 2016, 439 ha in 2018, 1,114 ha in 2019. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,837 ha that had burned before.
What happened to each town
-
Novo Jardim 17,739 inhabitants2,517 ha reached on 27 Aug2.1 %
-
Barreiras 159,734 inhabitants461 ha reached on 28 Aug0.1 %
-
235 ha reached on 29 Aug0.1 %
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Aug | 31.3 °C | 28 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 22 Aug | 31.5 °C | 27 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 23 Aug | 32.2 °C | 28 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 24 Aug | 32.9 °C | 29 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 25 Aug | 32.8 °C | 25 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 26 Aug | 33.9 °C | 22 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 27 Aug | 33.1 °C | 22 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 28 Aug | 32.0 °C | 31 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 29 Aug | 32.0 °C | 35 % | 46 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 30 Aug | 33.1 °C | 30 % | 44 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 31 Aug | 30.5 °C | 37 % | 45 km/h | 0.3 mm | Very high 41 |
| 1 Sept after | 30.2 °C | 39 % | 44 km/h | 0.7 mm | High 32 |
| 2 Sept after | 31.4 °C | 33 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 3 Sept after | 32.1 °C | 27 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 4 Sept after | 33.0 °C | 23 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 5 Sept after | 33.3 °C | 28 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 6 Sept after | 35.0 °C | 25 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 7 Sept after | 34.3 °C | 25 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 8 Sept after | 34.9 °C | 14 % | 48 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 60 |
| 9 Sept after | 35.6 °C | 15 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 10 Sept after | 36.0 °C | 20 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
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 · 83Every 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 Dianópolis fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 27 August 2021 and 31 August 2021: 5 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 3,195 hectares (32.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 3 municipalities: Novo Jardim (2,517 ha, 2.1 %); Barreiras (461 ha, 0.1 %); Dianópolis (235 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 33.9 °C, humidity dropped to 22 % and gusts hit 46 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 47, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Brazil (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: 193
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 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 3.0 Intergovernmental Organisations (CC BY 3.0 IGO)). 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.