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AR · Argentina · –

Ituzaingó fire, January 2023 Ituzaingó

Out · last detection 1 Mar 2023, 17:37 UTC

The fire started on 21 January 2023 in Ituzaingó, Argentina, and satellites saw it burning for 40 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 44,058 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 2th largest in Corrientes since 2016 (of 198 with a page). The largest in Argentina in 2023, of 179.

Burnt area
44,058ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
40days
21 Jan 2023 – 1 Mar 2023
Municipalities hit
1
departments
Started on
21 Jan
2023
Heat detections
3,746
in a single hotspot: 188 MW
Danger at start
30
High · FWI index
Average daily power
1.4GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 21 Jan1 Mar
1 Mar 2023

How it evolved, day by day

21 Jan 2023 · 16 MW · 11 22 Jan 2023 · 252 MW · 24 23 Jan 2023 · 257 MW · 33 24 Jan 2023 · 475 MW · 32 25 Jan 2023 · 199 MW · 25 28 Jan 2023 · 81 MW · 7 29 Jan 2023 · 97 MW · 5 30 Jan 2023 · 85 MW · 9 31 Jan 2023 · 363 MW · 41 1 Feb 2023 · 215 MW · 25 2 Feb 2023 · 24 MW · 6 3 Feb 2023 · 202 MW · 23 4 Feb 2023 · 655 MW · 81 5 Feb 2023 · 1,229 MW · 109 6 Feb 2023 · 1,133 MW · 104 7 Feb 2023 · 675 MW · 60 8 Feb 2023 · 474 MW · 73 9 Feb 2023 · 336 MW · 100 10 Feb 2023 · 206 MW · 27 11 Feb 2023 · 2,233 MW · 137 12 Feb 2023 · 4,915 MW · 143 13 Feb 2023 · 5,236 MW · 319 14 Feb 2023 · 470 MW · 211 15 Feb 2023 · 1,061 MW · 63 16 Feb 2023 · 3,505 MW · 239 17 Feb 2023 · 1,272 MW · 70 18 Feb 2023 · 5,447 MW · 332 19 Feb 2023 · 1,288 MW · 70 20 Feb 2023 · 2,808 MW · 199 21 Feb 2023 · 3,560 MW · 262 22 Feb 2023 · 2,824 MW · 230 23 Feb 2023 · 1,145 MW · 94 24 Feb 2023 · 225 MW · 9 25 Feb 2023 · 2,655 MW · 100 26 Feb 2023 · 3,973 MW · 157 27 Feb 2023 · 1,151 MW · 141 28 Feb 2023 · 2,163 MW · 68 1 Mar 2023 · 1,499 MW · 107
21 Jan 31 Jan 8 Feb 18 Feb 24 Feb

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

The weather it burned in

40°high
55km/h · peak gust
18%lowest humidity

It had gone one day without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 19.7 mm on 2 Mar.

This area had burned before

69% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 30,447 ha in 2022.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 28% of the area of London (441 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. Ituzaingó where it started
    44,379 ha reached on 21 Jan
    4.6 %

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 area0.69 ha
Residents≈ 30

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.69 hectares of built-up land and about 30 residents (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)
21 Jan 35.3 °C 39 % 42 km/h 0.3 mm High 30
22 Jan 35.9 °C 31 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
23 Jan 38.9 °C 19 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
24 Jan 39.7 °C 19 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
25 Jan 37.9 °C 31 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
26 Jan 36.6 °C 38 % 41 km/h 2.4 mm High 29
27 Jan 39.0 °C 28 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
28 Jan 34.5 °C 42 % 32 km/h 0.3 mm High 23
29 Jan 37.4 °C 33 % 27 km/h 0.2 mm High 27
30 Jan 34.2 °C 39 % 23 km/h 1.3 mm High 25
31 Jan 37.9 °C 18 % 24 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 21
1 Feb 38.9 °C 19 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
2 Feb 36.1 °C 32 % 43 km/h 0.4 mm Very high 39
3 Feb 32.2 °C 44 % 42 km/h 0.7 mm High 35
4 Feb 33.7 °C 27 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
5 Feb 34.7 °C 22 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
6 Feb 38.4 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
7 Feb 39.4 °C 21 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
8 Feb 39.6 °C 23 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
9 Feb 35.6 °C 35 % 36 km/h 0.2 mm High 31
10 Feb 37.0 °C 30 % 22 km/h 2.7 mm Moderate 13
11 Feb 37.8 °C 28 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
12 Feb 38.8 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 50
13 Feb 38.6 °C 34 % 45 km/h 0.9 mm Extreme 53
14 Feb 32.9 °C 48 % 38 km/h 0.4 mm High 31
15 Feb 36.3 °C 31 % 25 km/h 0.1 mm High 22
16 Feb 35.5 °C 36 % 45 km/h 9.2 mm Very high 40
17 Feb 22.2 °C 30 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
18 Feb 24.1 °C 29 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
19 Feb 29.4 °C 20 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
20 Feb 34.0 °C 31 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
21 Feb 33.8 °C 35 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
22 Feb 35.2 °C 30 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
23 Feb 30.8 °C 53 % 34 km/h 11.5 mm High 27
24 Feb 31.6 °C 53 % 24 km/h 3.2 mm Very low 1
25 Feb 35.7 °C 31 % 36 km/h 0.2 mm High 21
26 Feb 35.3 °C 27 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
27 Feb 36.4 °C 26 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
28 Feb 36.0 °C 26 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
1 Mar 37.2 °C 31 % 39 km/h 5.2 mm High 29
2 Mar after 26.1 °C 71 % 45 km/h 19.7 mm Very low 2

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 29.8, a minimum humidity of 39% and 1 day without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 34.

FWI at the start 29.8
Minimum humidity 39 %
Days without rain 1
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

General Artigas fire, March 2022
5,548 ha 17 days FWI 28.9 Min. humidity 39 % 142 km away, in 2022

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 10.8 mm on 22 Mar.

What happened to them

6 days
median duration
2,351 ha
median area
100 %
went past 1,000 ha
7.6 mm
rain at the end (median; 33 of 34 had it)

It was 18.7 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 40 days, against 6 days.

None of its 34 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 of 34, 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 7.6 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

19.7 mmfirst rain
2 Marthe day after it ended
55km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 1 Mar, and on 2 Mar 19.7 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 33 of 34, with a median of 7.6 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 · 14 Jan 2023
After · 8 Mar 2023

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 15 February 2023 the air beside the fire reached 205 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 106: 7.1 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak205 µg/m³
Days over the guideline14 days
PM10293 µg/m³
Optical depth3.23
26 Jan2 Feb9 Feb16 Feb23 Feb
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 · 3,746Every 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 Argentina

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Ituzaingó fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 21 January 2023 to 1 March 2023 (40 days). The perimeter dates it from 28 January 2023 to 24 February 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 44,058 hectares (440.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Ituzaingó (44,379 ha, 4.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.7 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 53, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Argentina (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: 34. Their median duration was 6 days and their median area 2,351 ha; 100 % went past 1,000 ha. None of its 34 twins burned more. The weather on the first day does not explain everything: the wind in the following days, the fuel and the firefighting also count. In 1 of 34, 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 7.6 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: 911 · 100 · 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: 24 February 2023 → 1 March 2023.
  2. Start date: 28 January 2023 → 21 January 2023.

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 911 · 100.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 28 January 2023 to 24 February 2023. 3,746 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 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.