Freixo de Espada à Cinta fire, July 2016
Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mazouco, Carviçais
Out · last detection 31 Jul 2016, 14:07 UTC
The fire started on 29 July 2016 in Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mazouco, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 119 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 freguesias.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
119ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page119ICNF93
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
ICNF: 93 ha (matched records: 2). Difference between the page and the official record: +28.0%. 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
3days
29 Jul 2016 to 31 Jul 2016: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 31 Jul 2016, 14:07 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
29 Jul 2016
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
29 Jul 2016
+− 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
17
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 61 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
29 Jul 2016 – 31 Jul 2016
+− 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
364MW
Total radiative power on 29 July 2016; hotspots that day: 16.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
29 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
model
36.5FWI · high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 21.
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
34.9°C · 23% RH
High of 34.9 °C and minimum humidity of 23% on 29 July 2016; gusts of 40 km/h on 30 July 2016.
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 ICNF record
Nearby records with very different figures: 93 ha (records: 2).
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
Burnt area inside each freguesia, 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.
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 2015
Built-up area0.21ha
Residents< 20
Inside the perimeter there were about 0.21 hectares of 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.
According to ICNF, 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 93 ha (the satellite measured 119 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
ICNF records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.
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)
29 Jul
34.9 °C
23 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
High 36
30 Jul
30.3 °C
32 %
40 km/h
0.1 mm
Very high 44
31 Jul
28.3 °C
36 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
High 28
1 Aug after
30.5 °C
27 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 27
2 Aug after
33.1 °C
22 %
23 km/h
0.0 mm
High 28
3 Aug after
32.6 °C
23 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
4 Aug after
25.6 °C
46 %
48 km/h
0.0 mm
High 36
5 Aug after
29.4 °C
26 %
35 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
6 Aug after
32.7 °C
15 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 52
7 Aug after
35.1 °C
16 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 56
8 Aug after
35.9 °C
15 %
34 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 48
9 Aug after
30.5 °C
28 %
57 km/h
0.3 mm
Very high 45
10 Aug after
26.9 °C
23 %
56 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 58
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 36.5, a minimum humidity of 23% and 21 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 35.
FWI at the start36.5
Minimum humidity23 %
Days without rain21
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Freixo de Espada à Cinta fire, July 2016
119 ha3 daysFWI 36.5Min. humidity 23 %
Celorico da Beira fire, July 2017
251 ha1 dayFWI 38.2Min. humidity 23 %72 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It stayed below its twins: 119 ha against a median of 356 ha. It lasted 3 days, against 2 days.
In 10 of 35, 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 3.5 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
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
40km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 31 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 25 of 35, with a median of 3.5 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 22 Jul 2016
After · 7 Aug 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.
The smoke
CAMS · Copernicus
On 30 July 2016 the air beside the fire reached 26 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 19: 1.3 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak26µg/m³
Days over the guideline1day
PM1035µg/m³
WHO 15
27 Jul29 Jul31 Jul2 Aug
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely 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· 17Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
How long did the Freixo de Espada à Cinta fire last?
Copernicus dates it between 29 July 2016 and 31 July 2016: 3 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 119 hectares (1.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 2 freguesias: Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mazouco (113 ha, 1.2 %); Carviçais (6 ha, 0.1 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Freixo de Espada à Cinta e Mazouco and came within 4.3 km of its centre. 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 34.9 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 40 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 44, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (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: 35. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 356 ha; 17 % went past 1,000 ha. In 10 of 35, 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 3.5 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: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 17 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 93 official ha against 119 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 2015, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.
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. Freguesia boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). The area per freguesia is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.