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BR · Brazil · –

Manoel Emídio fire, August 2019 Manoel Emídio, Alvorada do Gurguéia, Sebastião Leal

Out · last detection 28 Sept 2019, 16:38 UTC

The fire started on 28 August 2019 in Manoel Emídio, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 32 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 15,806 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 38th largest in Piaui since 2016 (of 665 with a page). Number 78 in Brazil in 2019, of 973.

Burnt area
15,806ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
32days
28 Aug 2019 – 28 Sept 2019
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
28 Aug
2019
Heat detections
731
in a single hotspot: 369 MW
Danger at start
56
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
614MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 28 Aug28 Sept
28 Sept 2019

How it evolved, day by day

28 Aug 2019 · 3,836 MW · 33 29 Aug 2019 · 71 MW · 25 30 Aug 2019 · 5,057 MW · 45 31 Aug 2019 · 414 MW · 86 1 Sept 2019 · 102 MW · 11 2 Sept 2019 · 126 MW · 10 3 Sept 2019 · 39 MW · 5 5 Sept 2019 · 22 MW · 4 6 Sept 2019 · 1,519 MW · 41 7 Sept 2019 · 863 MW · 54 8 Sept 2019 · 777 MW · 53 9 Sept 2019 · 214 MW · 13 10 Sept 2019 · 33 MW · 6 11 Sept 2019 · 143 MW · 7 12 Sept 2019 · 164 MW · 13 13 Sept 2019 · 356 MW · 20 14 Sept 2019 · 739 MW · 32 15 Sept 2019 · 2,158 MW · 91 16 Sept 2019 · 359 MW · 56 17 Sept 2019 · 476 MW · 33 18 Sept 2019 · 314 MW · 19 19 Sept 2019 · 14 MW · 4 20 Sept 2019 · 76 MW · 9 21 Sept 2019 · 64 MW · 13 22 Sept 2019 · 53 MW · 16 23 Sept 2019 · 28 MW · 3 24 Sept 2019 · 20 MW · 1 26 Sept 2019 · 1 MW · 1 27 Sept 2019 · 66 MW · 6 28 Sept 2019 · 331 MW · 21
30 Aug 10 Sept 16 Sept 22 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

39°high
49km/h · peak gust
17%lowest humidity

It had gone 50 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

44% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 4,030 ha in 2016, 3,516 ha in 2017, 39 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 7,005 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 10% of the area of London (158 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. Manoel Emídio 5,209 inhabitants where it started
    15,492 ha reached on 28 Aug
    9.5 %
  2. Alvorada do Gurguéia 5,322 inhabitants
    647 ha reached on 28 Aug
    0.3 %
  3. Sebastião Leal 4,446 inhabitants
    5 ha reached on 27 Sept
    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 area0.14 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.14 hectares of built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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)
28 Aug 34.6 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
29 Aug 35.0 °C 26 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
30 Aug 35.0 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
31 Aug 35.6 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
1 Sept 35.5 °C 24 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
2 Sept 36.4 °C 24 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
3 Sept 36.3 °C 30 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
4 Sept 37.0 °C 25 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
5 Sept 37.1 °C 24 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
6 Sept 35.9 °C 21 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
7 Sept 35.0 °C 21 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
8 Sept 36.0 °C 22 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
9 Sept 35.8 °C 26 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
10 Sept 36.7 °C 27 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
11 Sept 37.2 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
12 Sept 36.4 °C 26 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
13 Sept 38.1 °C 21 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
14 Sept 37.9 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
15 Sept 37.2 °C 19 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
16 Sept 37.2 °C 23 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
17 Sept 36.6 °C 24 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
18 Sept 37.2 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
19 Sept 38.3 °C 22 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
20 Sept 38.8 °C 19 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
21 Sept 39.2 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
22 Sept 38.2 °C 20 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
23 Sept 38.5 °C 19 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
24 Sept 36.3 °C 24 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
25 Sept 37.2 °C 21 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
26 Sept 36.6 °C 25 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
27 Sept 38.0 °C 23 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
28 Sept 38.6 °C 20 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
29 Sept after 32.5 °C 34 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
30 Sept after 37.4 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
1 Oct after 36.3 °C 27 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
2 Oct after 35.2 °C 33 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
3 Oct after 36.7 °C 27 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
4 Oct after 36.0 °C 27 % 51 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
5 Oct after 34.7 °C 25 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
6 Oct after 36.3 °C 24 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
7 Oct after 37.8 °C 23 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
8 Oct after 36.8 °C 26 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 56.2, a minimum humidity of 26% and 50 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 30.

FWI at the start 56.2
Minimum humidity 26 %
Days without rain 50
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Uruçuí fire, July 2016
3,037 ha 9 days FWI 57.1 Min. humidity 26 % 78 km away, in 2016

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.

What happened to them

12 days
median duration
4,978 ha
median area
13 %
went past 10,000 ha
1.8 mm
rain at the end (median; 12 of 30 had it)

It was 3.2 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 32 days, against 12 days.

Only 3 of its 30 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 18 of 30, 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 1.8 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

—first rain
—no rain in ten days
49km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 28 Sept, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 12 of 30, with a median of 1.8 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 · 21 Aug 2019
After · 5 Oct 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 · 731Every 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 Manoel Emídio fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 28 August 2019 to 28 September 2019 (32 days). The perimeter dates it from 30 August 2019 to 24 September 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 15,806 hectares (158.1 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Manoel Emídio (15,492 ha, 9.5 %); Alvorada do Gurguéia (647 ha, 0.3 %); Sebastião Leal (5 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 39.2 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 71, 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: 30. Their median duration was 12 days and their median area 4,978 ha; 13 % went past 10,000 ha. Only 3 of its 30 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 18 of 30, 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 1.8 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 · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 24 September 2019 → 28 September 2019.
  2. Start date: 30 August 2019 → 28 August 2019.

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 30 August 2019 to 24 September 2019. 731 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.