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Iracema fire, 13 February 2019 Mucajaí, Iracema, Alto Alegre

Out · last detection 15 Apr 2019, 16:53 UTC

The fire started on 13 February 2019 in Iracema, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 62 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 198,396 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:

It is the largest fire in Roraima since 2016 (of 123 with a page). The largest in Brazil in 2019, of 974.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Iracema · 2016Mucajaí · 2016Mucajaí · 2016Iracema · 2016

Burnt area
198,396ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
62days
13 Feb 2019 – 15 Apr 2019
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
13 Feb
2019
Heat detections
14,337
in a single hotspot: 485 MW
Danger at start
27
High · FWI index
Average daily power
1.8GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 13 Feb15 Apr
15 Apr 2019

How it evolved, day by day

13 Feb 2019 · 5 MW · 1 15 Feb 2019 · 1 MW · 2 16 Feb 2019 · 11 MW · 3 17 Feb 2019 · 197 MW · 32 18 Feb 2019 · 478 MW · 48 19 Feb 2019 · 12 MW · 10 20 Feb 2019 · 17 MW · 4 21 Feb 2019 · 71 MW · 27 22 Feb 2019 · 536 MW · 64 23 Feb 2019 · 578 MW · 74 24 Feb 2019 · 209 MW · 27 25 Feb 2019 · 2,382 MW · 121 26 Feb 2019 · 661 MW · 130 27 Feb 2019 · 104 MW · 37 28 Feb 2019 · 571 MW · 79 1 Mar 2019 · 3,585 MW · 298 2 Mar 2019 · 2,325 MW · 182 3 Mar 2019 · 1,578 MW · 193 4 Mar 2019 · 2,223 MW · 321 5 Mar 2019 · 1,838 MW · 361 6 Mar 2019 · 2,525 MW · 282 7 Mar 2019 · 3,987 MW · 288 8 Mar 2019 · 2,454 MW · 169 9 Mar 2019 · 2,319 MW · 393 10 Mar 2019 · 1,718 MW · 537 11 Mar 2019 · 3,555 MW · 526 13 Mar 2019 · 2,635 MW · 174 14 Mar 2019 · 3,669 MW · 537 15 Mar 2019 · 1,445 MW · 578 16 Mar 2019 · 2,726 MW · 261 17 Mar 2019 · 2,061 MW · 337 18 Mar 2019 · 11,389 MW · 825 19 Mar 2019 · 13,076 MW · 1381 20 Mar 2019 · 7,449 MW · 1687 21 Mar 2019 · 3,304 MW · 938 22 Mar 2019 · 6,435 MW · 550 23 Mar 2019 · 1,312 MW · 167 24 Mar 2019 · 3,885 MW · 425 25 Mar 2019 · 1,797 MW · 470 26 Mar 2019 · 1,513 MW · 464 27 Mar 2019 · 1,188 MW · 246 28 Mar 2019 · 684 MW · 80 29 Mar 2019 · 478 MW · 29 30 Mar 2019 · 82 MW · 33 31 Mar 2019 · 147 MW · 15 1 Apr 2019 · 790 MW · 127 2 Apr 2019 · 969 MW · 157 3 Apr 2019 · 47 MW · 17 4 Apr 2019 · 22 MW · 6 5 Apr 2019 · 177 MW · 79 6 Apr 2019 · 977 MW · 174 7 Apr 2019 · 2,501 MW · 190 8 Apr 2019 · 570 MW · 112 11 Apr 2019 · 13 MW · 2 12 Apr 2019 · 12 MW · 5 13 Apr 2019 · 221 MW · 13 14 Apr 2019 · 428 MW · 40 15 Apr 2019 · 52 MW · 9
13 Feb 23 Feb 4 Mar 14 Mar 19 Mar 23 Mar 1 Apr 12 Apr

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

The weather it burned in

37°high
49km/h · peak gust
27%lowest humidity

It had gone 26 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 4.4 mm on 16 Apr.

This area had burned before

51% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 103,597 ha in 2016, 5,533 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 100,475 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

20 km
It burned the equivalent of 1.3 times the area of London (1,984 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. Mucajaí 18,095 inhabitants
    122,908 ha reached on 13 Feb
    9.9 %
  2. Iracema where it started
    76,492 ha reached on 16 Feb
    5.4 %
  3. Alto Alegre 21,096 inhabitants
    338 ha reached on 18 Mar
    0.0 %

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 2020
Built-up area7.4 ha
Residents≈ 2,300

Inside the perimeter there were about 7.4 hectares of built-up land and about 2,300 residents (GHSL 2020, 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)
13 Feb 34.2 °C 43 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
14 Feb 35.6 °C 41 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
15 Feb 34.6 °C 40 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
16 Feb 34.7 °C 33 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
17 Feb 34.7 °C 31 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
18 Feb 34.0 °C 33 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
19 Feb 34.2 °C 35 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
20 Feb 33.8 °C 44 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
21 Feb 35.7 °C 38 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
22 Feb 35.2 °C 32 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
23 Feb 35.1 °C 30 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
24 Feb 34.9 °C 28 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Feb 35.3 °C 27 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
26 Feb 34.8 °C 37 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
27 Feb 33.3 °C 36 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
28 Feb 34.4 °C 34 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
1 Mar 34.8 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
2 Mar 35.5 °C 34 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
3 Mar 35.9 °C 32 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
4 Mar 36.2 °C 31 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
5 Mar 35.0 °C 35 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
6 Mar 35.8 °C 33 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
7 Mar 36.4 °C 35 % 43 km/h 0.2 mm High 37
8 Mar 35.7 °C 37 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
9 Mar 35.5 °C 32 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
10 Mar 36.1 °C 32 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
11 Mar 36.7 °C 34 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
12 Mar 34.1 °C 41 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
13 Mar 35.8 °C 32 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
14 Mar 35.5 °C 36 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
15 Mar 33.9 °C 42 % 42 km/h 3.8 mm Moderate 12
16 Mar 36.0 °C 39 % 42 km/h 0.5 mm High 26
17 Mar 35.3 °C 38 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
18 Mar 35.4 °C 36 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
19 Mar 36.2 °C 32 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
20 Mar 36.8 °C 33 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
21 Mar 35.8 °C 38 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
22 Mar 36.4 °C 33 % 33 km/h 0.1 mm High 32
23 Mar 36.3 °C 32 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
24 Mar 37.0 °C 30 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
25 Mar 35.7 °C 36 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
26 Mar 35.5 °C 35 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
27 Mar 36.5 °C 36 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
28 Mar 36.7 °C 35 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
29 Mar 35.5 °C 39 % 35 km/h 4.3 mm Low 10
30 Mar 32.9 °C 55 % 32 km/h 7.4 mm Very low 3
31 Mar 34.7 °C 47 % 27 km/h 1.8 mm Low 7
1 Apr 36.6 °C 33 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
2 Apr 36.5 °C 33 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
3 Apr 35.1 °C 37 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
4 Apr 34.5 °C 41 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
5 Apr 36.2 °C 34 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
6 Apr 36.1 °C 31 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
7 Apr 36.0 °C 35 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
8 Apr 34.3 °C 39 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
9 Apr 33.4 °C 47 % 24 km/h 2.9 mm Low 7
10 Apr 32.2 °C 52 % 30 km/h 1.8 mm Low 7
11 Apr 31.9 °C 49 % 34 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 14
12 Apr 34.8 °C 45 % 38 km/h 3.8 mm Low 7
13 Apr 35.3 °C 44 % 39 km/h 3.0 mm Low 7
14 Apr 34.7 °C 44 % 45 km/h 2.0 mm Low 10
15 Apr 33.9 °C 49 % 47 km/h 7.6 mm Very low 3
16 Apr after 34.4 °C 47 % 35 km/h 4.4 mm Very low 2

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 6 Feb 2019
After · 22 Apr 2019

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 · 14,337Every 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 Brazil ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Iracema fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 13 February 2019 to 15 April 2019 (62 days). The perimeter dates it from 20 February 2019 to 9 April 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 198,396 hectares (1,984.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Mucajaí (122,908 ha, 9.9 %); Iracema (76,492 ha, 5.4 %); Alto Alegre (338 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 37.0 °C, humidity dropped to 27 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 40, 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.
  1. Last day with fire: 9 April 2019 → 15 April 2019.
  2. Start date: 20 February 2019 → 13 February 2019.

RSS Changes to this page

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 193.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 9 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 20 February 2019 to 9 April 2019. 14,337 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 2020, 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 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.