How long did the Guarda fire last?

Copernicus dates it between 17 July 2017 and 19 July 2017: 3 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 17 July 2017 at 13:15 and declared extinguished on 19 July 2017.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 8,991 hectares (89.9 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 13 municipalities: Castanheira (2,280 ha, 92 %); União das freguesias de Amoreira, Parada e Cabreira (1,701 ha, 54 %); Rochoso e Monte Margarida (1,265 ha, 53 %); Cerdeira (1,163 ha, 50 %); Pínzio (948 ha, 35 %); Freixo (749 ha, 43 %); Castelo Mendo, Ade, Monteperobolso e Mesquitela (376 ha, 9.0 %); Azinhal, Peva e Valverde (292 ha, 6.2 %); União de freguesias de Pousade e Albardo (97 ha, 5.8 %); Jarmelo São Pedro (61 ha, 2.0 %); Marmeleiro (40 ha, 1.3 %); Atalaia e Safurdão (22 ha, 0.7 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.0 km of Castanheira. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 33.2 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 51 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 58, class Extreme.

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.

PT · Portugal · 2017-07-17 → 2017-07-19

Guarda fire, 17 July 2017 Castanheira, União das freguesias de Amoreira, Parada e Cabreira, Rochoso e Monte Margarida

Out · last detection 19 Jul 2017, 13:47 UTC

The fire started on 17 July 2017 in Castanheira, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 8,991 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 13 municipalities. According to ICNF, it was detected on 17 July 2017 at 13:15 and declared extinguished on 19 July 2017.

It is the largest fire in Guarda since 2016 (of 13 with a page). Number 10 in Portugal in 2017, of 210.

Burnt area: 8,991ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: 3days; 17 Jul 2017 – 19 Jul 2017
Municipalities hit: 13; freguesias
Started on: 17 Jul; 2017
Heat detections: 161; in a single hotspot: 252 MW
Danger at start: 56; Extreme · FWI index
Energy released: 5.8GW; sum of detected power

Play back 19 Jul 2017

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 17 Jul19 Jul

How it evolved, day by day

171819

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

33°high

51km/h · peak gust

11%lowest humidity

It had gone 8 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.

What happened to each town

Castanheira 0.0 km from the town

2,280 ha reached on 17 Jul

92 %
União das freguesias de Amoreira, Parada e Cabreira

1,701 ha reached on 17 Jul

54 %
Rochoso e Monte Margarida 214 inhabitants · 3.2 km from the town where it started

1,265 ha reached on 17 Jul

53 %
Cerdeira 188 inhabitants · 0.3 km from the town

1,163 ha reached on 17 Jul

50 %
Pínzio 365 inhabitants · 0.2 km from the town

948 ha reached on 18 Jul

35 %
Freixo 167 inhabitants · 0.1 km from the town

749 ha reached on 18 Jul

43 %
Castelo Mendo, Ade, Monteperobolso e Mesquitela 208 inhabitants · 3.5 km from the town

376 ha

9.0 %
Azinhal, Peva e Valverde 261 inhabitants · 4.5 km from the town

292 ha reached on 18 Jul

6.2 %
União de freguesias de Pousade e Albardo

97 ha reached on 18 Jul

5.8 %
Jarmelo São Pedro 276 inhabitants · 3.7 km from the town

61 ha reached on 18 Jul

2.0 %
Marmeleiro 297 inhabitants · 2.6 km from the town

40 ha

1.3 %
Atalaia e Safurdão 200 inhabitants · 3.4 km from the town

22 ha reached on 19 Jul

0.7 %
Miuzela e Porto de Ovelha 280 inhabitants · 2.2 km from the town

5 ha

0.2 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.

What burned

Other natural land60 %
Agricultural areas33 %
Scrub and transitional woodland6.2 %

Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.

Official record

According to ICNF, this fire started on 17 July 2017 and burned 7,443 ha (the satellite measured 8,991 ha).

Guarda Rochoso 17 July 2017 · 13:15 7,443 ha · extinguished on 19 July 2017 · cause: negligence

ICNF (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas). This is the agency’s operational record: its figures may be revised when the year’s statistics are closed.

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	Danger (FWI)
17 Jul	33.2 °C	11 %	46 km/h	Extreme 56
18 Jul	30.3 °C	14 %	51 km/h	Extreme 58
19 Jul	24.7 °C	43 %	45 km/h	High 35
20 Jul after	25.8 °C	29 %	37 km/h	High 33
21 Jul after	25.6 °C	27 %	40 km/h	High 35
22 Jul after	26.8 °C	32 %	39 km/h	High 34
23 Jul after	28.7 °C	23 %	39 km/h	Very high 40
24 Jul after	28.1 °C	21 %	41 km/h	Very high 42
25 Jul after	29.2 °C	21 %	37 km/h	Very high 38
26 Jul after	31.2 °C	21 %	31 km/h	Very high 40
27 Jul after	32.0 °C	14 %	37 km/h	Very high 48
28 Jul after	31.0 °C	16 %	36 km/h	Very high 48
29 Jul after	31.1 °C	25 %	47 km/h	Extreme 52
30 Jul after	28.2 °C	24 %	40 km/h	Very high 44
31 Jul after	21.1 °C	35 %	40 km/h	High 34
1 Aug after	25.7 °C	26 %	34 km/h	High 35
2 Aug after	29.7 °C	20 %	38 km/h	Very high 41
3 Aug after	29.9 °C	35 %	42 km/h	Very high 40
4 Aug after	32.8 °C	25 %	35 km/h	Very high 39
5 Aug after	31.2 °C	24 %	38 km/h	Very high 41
6 Aug after	30.5 °C	28 %	40 km/h	Very high 41

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 10 Jul 2017

After · 26 Jul 2017

Before After

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 18 July 2017 the air beside the fire reached 20 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak20 µg/m³

Days over the guideline0 days

PM1032 µg/m³

WHO 15

15161718192021222324252627282930

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 · 161Every 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

All fires in Portugal ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Guarda fire last?: Copernicus dates it between 17 July 2017 and 19 July 2017: 3 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 17 July 2017 at 13:15 and declared extinguished on 19 July 2017.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 8,991 hectares (89.9 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 13 municipalities: Castanheira (2,280 ha, 92 %); União das freguesias de Amoreira, Parada e Cabreira (1,701 ha, 54 %); Rochoso e Monte Margarida (1,265 ha, 53 %); Cerdeira (1,163 ha, 50 %); Pínzio (948 ha, 35 %); Freixo (749 ha, 43 %); Castelo Mendo, Ade, Monteperobolso e Mesquitela (376 ha, 9.0 %); Azinhal, Peva e Valverde (292 ha, 6.2 %); União de freguesias de Pousade e Albardo (97 ha, 5.8 %); Jarmelo São Pedro (61 ha, 2.0 %); Marmeleiro (40 ha, 1.3 %); Atalaia e Safurdão (22 ha, 0.7 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.0 km of Castanheira. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 33.2 °C, humidity dropped to 11 % and gusts hit 51 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 58, class Extreme.
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.

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

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · Copernicus ↗

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.

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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 ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). 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.

Where it burned