Kineta fire, July 2018 Κινέτα · Megara, Loutraki-Agioi Theodoroi
The fire started on 23 July 2018 in Megara, Greece, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 5,568 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 8th largest in Attica since 2016 (of 33 with a page). The largest in Greece in 2018, of 17.
- Burnt area
- 5,568ha
- Copernicus perimeter
- Duration
- 3days
- 23 Jul 2018 – 25 Jul 2018
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- municipalities
- Started on
- 23 Jul
- 2018
- Heat detections
- 186
- in a single hotspot: 186 MW
- Danger at start
- 46
- Very high · FWI index
- Energy released
- 4.2GW
- sum of detected power
Where it burned
How it evolved, day by day
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
It had gone 14 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 7.1 mm on 26 Jul.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
-
4,460 ha reached on 23 Jul14 %
-
Loutraki-Agioi Theodoroi Λουτρακίου - Περαχώρας - Αγίων Θεοδώρων996 ha reached on 24 Jul3.3 %
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
- Scrub and transitional woodland45 %
- Coniferous forest41 %
- Agricultural areas6.8 %
- Mixed forest2.3 %
- Artificial surfaces2.2 %
- Sclerophyllous scrub1.9 %
- Other natural land0.8 %
Natura 2000 protected area affected: 15 %
- LIC ORI GERANEIA GR2530005
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.
Checked against the press
Checked on 30 September 2026We checked this page against 2 sources published once the fire was out. This is what they add:
- Also known as
- Fire in Kineta · Πυρκαγιά Κινέτα · Kineta-Megara fire
- Official area reported: 6,000 ha (the satellite measured 5,568 ha)
Sources
- EMSR300: Forest Fires in Attika, Greece — Copernicus EMS, 24 July 2018 · official source
- Δήμαρχος Μεγαρέων: Η φωτιά στην Κινέτα έχει κάψει περίπου 60.000 στρέμματα — iefimerida.gr, 25 July 2018
Official figures are measured differently from satellite ones and sometimes cover only part of the fire.
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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Jul | 30.5 °C | 37 % | 96 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 24 Jul | 28.0 °C | 37 % | 55 km/h | 1.8 mm | Low 11 |
| 25 Jul | 29.3 °C | 38 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 21 |
| 26 Jul after | 26.5 °C | 56 % | 33 km/h | 7.1 mm | Very low 4 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
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 · CopernicusOn 24 July 2018 the air beside the fire reached 23 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 16: 1.1 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
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 · 186Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 7,005 haGerania Δημοτική Ενότητα ΜΕΓΑΡΕΩΝMay 2021 · 5 days · 6 km away
- 13,192 haMandra-Eidyllia Δημοτική Ενότητα Μάνδρας Αττικής31 July 2026 · 1 day · 16 km away
- 10,175 haVilia Δημοτική Ενότητα Μάνδρας ΑττικήςAugust 2021 · 8 days · 20 km away
- 11,662 haDervenochoria Δημοτική Ενότητα Μάνδρας ΑττικήςJuly 2023 · 7 days · 29 km away
- 3,735 haThebes ΘηβαίωνJuly 2026 · 1 day · 32 km away
- 3,614 haThebes Θηβαίων21 August 2023 · 5 days · 40 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Kineta fire last?
- Copernicus dates it between 23 July 2018 and 25 July 2018: 3 days between the first and last image with fire.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 5,568 hectares (55.7 km²). Official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Megara (4,460 ha, 14 %); Loutraki-Agioi Theodoroi (996 ha, 3.3 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 30.5 °C, humidity dropped to 37 % and gusts hit 96 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 46, class Very high.
- Where does this data come from?
- From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Greece (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 · 199
Satellite cross-check
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
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.