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BO · Bolivia · –

Exaltación fire, 23 August 2024 Exaltación

Out · last detection 14 Sept 2024, 05:50 UTC

The fire started on 23 August 2024 in Exaltación, Bolivia, and satellites saw it burning for 23 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 4,480 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 492th largest in Beni since 2016 (of 859 with a page). Number 186 in Bolivia in 2024, of 295.

Burnt area
4,480ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
23days
23 Aug 2024 – 14 Sept 2024
Municipalities hit
1
municipalities
Started on
23 Aug
2024
Heat detections
225
in a single hotspot: 132 MW
Danger at start
31
High · FWI index
Average daily power
78MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 23 Aug14 Sept
14 Sept 2024

How it evolved, day by day

23 Aug 2024 · 10 MW · 2 24 Aug 2024 · 48 MW · 3 25 Aug 2024 · 7 MW · 3 26 Aug 2024 · 13 MW · 5 29 Aug 2024 · 35 MW · 8 30 Aug 2024 · 55 MW · 12 1 Sept 2024 · 85 MW · 4 2 Sept 2024 · 41 MW · 8 3 Sept 2024 · 48 MW · 21 4 Sept 2024 · 37 MW · 15 5 Sept 2024 · 185 MW · 13 6 Sept 2024 · 274 MW · 30 7 Sept 2024 · 34 MW · 14 8 Sept 2024 · 12 MW · 5 9 Sept 2024 · 306 MW · 41 10 Sept 2024 · 352 MW · 30 11 Sept 2024 · 3 MW · 2 12 Sept 2024 · 10 MW · 3 13 Sept 2024 · 2 MW · 2 14 Sept 2024 · 6 MW · 4
23 Aug 29 Aug 3 Sept 7 Sept 10 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

39°high
50km/h · peak gust
28%lowest humidity

It had gone 13 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.5 mm on 21 Sept.

This area had burned before

4% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 81 ha in 2017, 155 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 200 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 2.8% of the area of London (45 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. Exaltación 8,012 inhabitants where it started
    4,498 ha reached on 23 Aug
    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.

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2025
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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

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)
23 Aug 37.4 °C 36 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm High 31
24 Aug 34.0 °C 46 % 39 km/h 0.9 mm High 22
25 Aug 24.4 °C 40 % 50 km/h 0.1 mm High 28
26 Aug 25.9 °C 28 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
27 Aug 31.2 °C 30 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
28 Aug 34.0 °C 33 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
29 Aug 36.9 °C 33 % 18 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
30 Aug 36.7 °C 34 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
31 Aug 36.8 °C 37 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
1 Sept 34.0 °C 37 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm High 34
2 Sept 34.1 °C 33 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
3 Sept 36.3 °C 35 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
4 Sept 37.2 °C 38 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
5 Sept 29.8 °C 50 % 34 km/h 10.1 mm Very low 1
6 Sept 31.7 °C 35 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Low 8
7 Sept 34.3 °C 37 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 19
8 Sept 36.0 °C 42 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
9 Sept 37.3 °C 38 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 17
10 Sept 37.6 °C 37 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
11 Sept 37.2 °C 42 % 35 km/h 0.1 mm High 29
12 Sept 37.7 °C 42 % 34 km/h 0.1 mm High 28
13 Sept 38.5 °C 35 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
14 Sept 39.0 °C 35 % 31 km/h 0.6 mm High 30
15 Sept after 28.6 °C 49 % 34 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 19
16 Sept after 32.1 °C 40 % 32 km/h 0.4 mm High 27
17 Sept after 34.4 °C 36 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
18 Sept after 36.7 °C 38 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
19 Sept after 37.8 °C 39 % 32 km/h 0.3 mm High 29
20 Sept after 38.0 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
21 Sept after 38.4 °C 35 % 28 km/h 1.5 mm High 29

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 31.2, a minimum humidity of 36% and 13 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.

FWI at the start 31.2
Minimum humidity 36 %
Days without rain 13
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Exaltación fire, July 2024
5,034 ha 21 days FWI 32.3 Min. humidity 36 % 45 km away, in 2024

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.2 mm on 7 Aug.

What happened to them

7 days
median duration
4,619 ha
median area
13 %
went past 10,000 ha
3.2 mm
rain at the end (median; 17 of 23 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (4,480 ha against a median of 4,619 ha) and lasted 23 days, against 7 days.

In 6 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 3.2 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

1.5 mmfirst rain
21 Sept7 days after it ended
50km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 14 Sept, and on 21 Sept 1.5 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 17 of 23, with a median of 3.2 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 16 Aug 2024
After · 21 Sept 2024

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 · Copernicus

On 5 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 182 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 160: 11 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak182 µg/m³
Days over the guideline22 days
PM10260 µg/m³
Optical depth5.08
27 Aug1 Sept6 Sept11 Sept16 Sept
Good Fair Moderate Poor Very poor Extremely poor

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 · 225Every 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 Exaltación fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 23 August 2024 to 14 September 2024 (23 days). The perimeter dates it from 29 August 2024 to 14 September 2024.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 4,480 hectares (44.8 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Exaltación (4,498 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.0 °C, humidity dropped to 28 % and gusts hit 50 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, 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 7 days and their median area 4,619 ha; 13 % went past 10,000 ha. In 6 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 3.2 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.

Emergency number: 119 · 110 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Start date: 29 August 2024 → 23 August 2024.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 29 August 2024 to 14 September 2024. 225 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.
  • 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.

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.