Burned area
satellite only5,144ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus)
- Date
- 3 Jul 2016 – 5 Jul 2016
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page to compare it with.
BR · Brazil · –
Formoso do Araguaia fire, 3 July 2016 Formoso do Araguaia, Lagoa da Confusão
Out · last detection 5 Jul 2016, 17:03 UTC
The fire started on 3 July 2016 in Formoso do Araguaia, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 5,144 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 474th largest in Tocantins since 2016 (of 1036 with a page). Number 265 in Brazil in 2016, of 648.
Use this data
Compare with…
Use this data
Fire page data · version 2026-10-27matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Duration by satellite
satellite only3days
3 Jul 2016 to 5 Jul 2016: first and last day with fire on the page.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- last detection: 5 Jul 2016, 17:03 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 only3 Jul 2016
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
- Source
- GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
- Date
- 3 Jul 2016
+− cross-check
No official record is matched to this page, so the alert time and the cause are not known here.
The worst day
satellite only1,082MW
Total radiative power on 3 July 2016; hotspots that day: 100.
- Source
- NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
- Date
- 3 Jul 2016
+− 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
model42.4FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 25.
- Source
- WorldFires calculation (Canadian FWI system)
- Date
- 3 Jul 2016, local noon
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
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
model34.7°C · 27% RH
High of 34.7 °C and minimum humidity of 27% on 4 July 2016; gusts of 42 km/h on 5 July 2016.
- Source
- weather model at the fire’s grid cell
- Date
- 3 Jul 2016 – 5 Jul 2016
- Model
- ERA5 0,25° (ECMWF · Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com
+− cross-check
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
-
· reconstructed weatherWeather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
-
logStart date: 28 June 2016 → 3 July 2016.
-
logStart date: 3 July 2016 → 28 June 2016.
-
· reconstructed GHSLPopulation and built-up area computed
Area logged each night
Move the slider to see which area the page published each day.
Versioned permanent link
https://worldfires.org/en/fire/formoso-do-araguaia-2016-07?v=2026-10-27A 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
CSV for this fire formoso-do-araguaia-2016-07.csv · daily, no individual hotspots
| fecha | focos_viirs | frp_mw | tmax_c | tmin_c | hr_min_pct | viento_max_kmh | racha_max_kmh | precip_mm | fwi | clase_fwi | dentro_del_incendio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-07-03 | 100 | 1,082 | 33.9 | 21.9 | 28 | 17.7 | 41.4 | 0 | 42.4 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2016-07-04 | 10 | 34 | 34.7 | 22 | 27 | 17.5 | 39.2 | 0 | 42.5 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2016-07-05 | 9 | 26 | 34.7 | 23.4 | 32 | 18 | 42.1 | 0 | 42.6 | muy_alto | 1 |
| 2016-07-06 | 0 | 0 | 35.1 | 24.3 | 27 | 13.8 | 32 | 0 | 38.8 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-07 | 0 | 0 | 35.3 | 23.1 | 24 | 11.9 | 29.2 | 0 | 37.3 | alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-08 | 0 | 0 | 36.4 | 22 | 23 | 9.4 | 24.1 | 0 | 36.3 | alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-09 | 0 | 0 | 37.2 | 23 | 21 | 11 | 24.8 | 0 | 39.7 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-10 | 0 | 0 | 36.2 | 21.5 | 26 | 9.2 | 22.3 | 0 | 38.3 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-11 | 0 | 0 | 36.4 | 22.3 | 24 | 9.7 | 25.9 | 0 | 39 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-12 | 0 | 0 | 35.8 | 22.6 | 23 | 10.3 | 26.6 | 0 | 39.8 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-13 | 0 | 0 | 36.6 | 22.3 | 22 | 10.1 | 26.6 | 0 | 39.8 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-14 | 0 | 0 | 37.2 | 22.5 | 22 | 9.8 | 25.6 | 0 | 39.8 | muy_alto | 0 |
| 2016-07-15 | 0 | 0 | 35.5 | 23.7 | 24 | 8.3 | 19.4 | 0 | 38.6 | muy_alto | 0 |
It is generated in your browser from this page’s data: one file per fire, aggregated by day and without individual hotspots.
Live widget for your story
It updates itself while the fire is still active and links to this page. Free, with the attribution shown at the bottom.
Sources for this page: GWIS (Copernicus), NASA FIRMS (VIIRS), ERA5 (ECMWF/Copernicus C3S) · Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), GHSL (JRC). Open-Meteo.com · How we build fire pages: methodology
- Burnt area
- 5,144ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 3days
- 3 Jul 2016 – 5 Jul 2016
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- municipalities
- Started on
- 3 Jul
- 2016
- Heat detections
- 119
- in a single hotspot: 0 MW
- Danger at start
- 42
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 381MW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
HOTSPOTS BY DAY
3 Jul5 Jul
5 Jul 2016
How it evolved, day by day
3 Jul
4 Jul
5 Jul
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
35°high
42km/h · peak gust
27%lowest humidity
It had gone 25 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.
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
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).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
Formoso do Araguaia where it started3,962 ha0.3 %
-
Lagoa da Confusão 15,288 inhabitants1,208 ha0.1 %
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 2015Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (GHSL 2015, 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.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Jul | 33.9 °C | 28 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 4 Jul | 34.7 °C | 27 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 5 Jul | 34.7 °C | 32 % | 42 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 6 Jul after | 35.1 °C | 27 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 7 Jul after | 35.3 °C | 24 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 8 Jul after | 36.4 °C | 23 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 9 Jul after | 37.2 °C | 21 % | 25 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 10 Jul after | 36.2 °C | 26 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 38 |
| 11 Jul after | 36.4 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 12 Jul after | 35.8 °C | 23 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 13 Jul after | 36.6 °C | 22 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 14 Jul after | 37.2 °C | 22 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 15 Jul after | 35.5 °C | 24 % | 19 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 42.4, a minimum humidity of 28% and 25 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 4.
FWI at the start
42.4
Minimum humidity
28 %
Days without rain
25
this fire
chosen twins
rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Formoso do Araguaia fire, 3 July 2016
5,144 ha
3 days
FWI 42.4
Min. humidity 28 %
Pium fire, September 2016
6,650 ha
7 days
FWI 42.8
Min. humidity 26 %
149 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Ipueiras fire, October 2020
3,605 ha
5 days
FWI 43.2
Min. humidity 22 %
233 km away, in 2020
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 4.4 mm on 10 Oct.
Vila Rica fire, September 2017
3,541 ha
6 days
FWI 43.7
Min. humidity 26 %
178 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
Formoso do Araguaia fire, August 2018
3,299 ha
5 days
FWI 44.9
Min. humidity 23 %
44 km away, in 2018
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.1 mm on 16 Aug.
What happened to them
Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 4. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.
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
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
42km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 5 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain.
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.
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 26 Jun 2016
After · 12 Jul 2016
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 · 0Every 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 time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Formoso do Araguaia fire last?
- GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 3 July 2016 and 5 July 2016: 3 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 5,144 hectares (51.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Formoso do Araguaia (3,962 ha, 0.3 %); Lagoa da Confusão (1,208 ha, 0.1 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 34.7 °C, humidity dropped to 27 % and gusts hit 42 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 43, 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 · Emergency number and official warnings
Satellite cross-check
History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
- Start date: 28 June 2016 → 3 July 2016.
- Start date: 3 July 2016 → 28 June 2016.
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
How 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. No 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 2015, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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.