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Lagoa da Confusão fire, 22 August 2017 Lagoa da Confusão

Out · last detection 20 Sept 2017, 17:15 UTC

The fire started on 22 August 2017 in Lagoa da Confusão, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 30 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 23,808 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 42th largest in Tocantins since 2016 (of 1036 with a page). Number 56 in Brazil in 2017, of 994.

Burnt area
23,808ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
30days
22 Aug 2017 – 20 Sept 2017
Municipalities hit
1
municipalities
Started on
22 Aug
2017
Heat detections
959
in a single hotspot: 240 MW
Danger at start
67
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
491MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 22 Aug20 Sept
20 Sept 2017

How it evolved, day by day

22 Aug 2017 · 18 MW · 4 23 Aug 2017 · 215 MW · 24 24 Aug 2017 · 225 MW · 19 25 Aug 2017 · 113 MW · 8 26 Aug 2017 · 328 MW · 12 27 Aug 2017 · 523 MW · 19 28 Aug 2017 · 988 MW · 57 29 Aug 2017 · 437 MW · 64 30 Aug 2017 · 108 MW · 23 31 Aug 2017 · 443 MW · 14 1 Sept 2017 · 157 MW · 8 2 Sept 2017 · 1,760 MW · 44 3 Sept 2017 · 1,067 MW · 117 4 Sept 2017 · 514 MW · 70 5 Sept 2017 · 835 MW · 46 6 Sept 2017 · 2,226 MW · 99 7 Sept 2017 · 443 MW · 71 8 Sept 2017 · 1,122 MW · 63 9 Sept 2017 · 457 MW · 44 10 Sept 2017 · 1,198 MW · 39 11 Sept 2017 · 393 MW · 27 12 Sept 2017 · 262 MW · 9 13 Sept 2017 · 219 MW · 16 14 Sept 2017 · 53 MW · 11 15 Sept 2017 · 26 MW · 3 16 Sept 2017 · 56 MW · 2 17 Sept 2017 · 251 MW · 5 18 Sept 2017 · 54 MW · 9 19 Sept 2017 · 51 MW · 10 20 Sept 2017 · 189 MW · 22
22 Aug 28 Aug 6 Sept 15 Sept

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

The weather it burned in

41°high
49km/h · peak gust
13%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.3 mm on 30 Sept.

This area had burned before

67% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 16,266 ha in 2016.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 15% of the area of London (238 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. Lagoa da Confusão 15,288 inhabitants where it started
    23,965 ha reached on 22 Aug
    2.3 %

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 2015
Built-up area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable 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.

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)

Started with 60 days without rain: 55 % of the area in Brazil

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
22 Aug 39.5 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
23 Aug 37.6 °C 23 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
24 Aug 37.1 °C 22 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
25 Aug 37.2 °C 23 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
26 Aug 38.1 °C 18 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
27 Aug 38.5 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
28 Aug 40.1 °C 16 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
29 Aug 39.9 °C 16 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
30 Aug 39.7 °C 14 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
31 Aug 40.2 °C 13 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
1 Sept 40.0 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
2 Sept 38.3 °C 18 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
3 Sept 37.3 °C 19 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
4 Sept 35.9 °C 20 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
5 Sept 37.9 °C 18 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
6 Sept 38.7 °C 21 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
7 Sept 39.2 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
8 Sept 37.9 °C 22 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
9 Sept 40.2 °C 17 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
10 Sept 39.9 °C 18 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
11 Sept 41.0 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
12 Sept 39.4 °C 20 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 79
13 Sept 38.5 °C 14 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
14 Sept 39.2 °C 17 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
15 Sept 39.4 °C 14 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
16 Sept 39.0 °C 16 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
17 Sept 38.5 °C 18 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
18 Sept 39.5 °C 15 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
19 Sept 40.5 °C 17 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
20 Sept 39.8 °C 17 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
21 Sept after 35.7 °C 25 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
22 Sept after 38.7 °C 18 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
23 Sept after 39.6 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
24 Sept after 40.2 °C 15 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
25 Sept after 40.1 °C 17 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
26 Sept after 39.7 °C 17 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
27 Sept after 39.2 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 82
28 Sept after 38.6 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
29 Sept after 40.4 °C 20 % 40 km/h 0.2 mm Very extreme 74
30 Sept after 35.1 °C 39 % 42 km/h 3.3 mm High 30

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 67.2, a minimum humidity of 17% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 26.

FWI at the start 67.2
Minimum humidity 17 %
Days without rain 60+
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Luciara fire, September 2016
5,635 ha 4 days FWI 67.7 Min. humidity 17 % 95 km away, in 2016

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 4.5 mm on 22 Sept.

What happened to them

11 days
median duration
9,756 ha
median area
46 %
went past 10,000 ha
1.9 mm
rain at the end (median; 14 of 26 had it)

It was 2.4 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 30 days, against 11 days.

Only 4 of its 26 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 12 of 26, 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 1.9 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

3.3 mmfirst rain
30 Sept10 days after it ended
49km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 20 Sept, and on 30 Sept 3.3 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 14 of 26, with a median of 1.9 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 · 15 Aug 2017
After · 27 Sept 2017

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 · 959Every 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 Lagoa da Confusão fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 22 August 2017 to 20 September 2017 (30 days). The perimeter dates it from 22 August 2017 to 17 September 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 23,808 hectares (238.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered Lagoa da Confusão (23,965 ha, 2.3 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 41.0 °C, humidity dropped to 13 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 79, class Very extreme.
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.
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: 26. Their median duration was 11 days and their median area 9,756 ha; 46 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 4 of its 26 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 12 of 26, 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 1.9 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: 193 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 17 September 2017 → 20 September 2017.

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 193.

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 22 August 2017 to 17 September 2017. 959 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 2015, 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.