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BR · Brazil · –

Marcelândia fire, July 2026 Marcelândia, União do Sul

Out · last detection 4 Sept 2026, 16:56 UTC

The fire started on 25 July 2026 in Marcelândia, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 42 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 10,341 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

We are reviewing this page: some of its data look inconsistent (the place, the dates or the area), so treat them with caution.

GWIS near-real-time perimeter, from the layer that changed in October 2025: this fire is not compared with fires from earlier years, because since then the GWIS layer gives more and larger perimeters.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Marcelândia · 2024União do Sul · 2022União do Sul · 2020União do Sul · 2019

Burnt area
10,341ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
42days
25 Jul 2026 – 4 Sept 2026
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
25 Jul
2026
Heat detections
802
in a single hotspot: 133 MW
Danger at start
27
High · FWI index
Average daily power
289MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 25 Jul4 Sept
4 Sept 2026

How it evolved, day by day

25 Jul 2026 · 364 MW · 11 26 Jul 2026 · 67 MW · 6 27 Jul 2026 · 8 MW · 2 28 Jul 2026 · 66 MW · 3 1 Aug 2026 · 696 MW · 14 2 Aug 2026 · 349 MW · 31 3 Aug 2026 · 36 MW · 6 4 Aug 2026 · 85 MW · 7 5 Aug 2026 · 123 MW · 12 6 Aug 2026 · 7 MW · 8 7 Aug 2026 · 3 MW · 1 8 Aug 2026 · 258 MW · 22 9 Aug 2026 · 136 MW · 7 10 Aug 2026 · 213 MW · 29 11 Aug 2026 · 1 MW · 1 13 Aug 2026 · 8 MW · 1 15 Aug 2026 · 8 MW · 1 16 Aug 2026 · 78 MW · 5 17 Aug 2026 · 138 MW · 29 18 Aug 2026 · 1,027 MW · 21 19 Aug 2026 · 448 MW · 34 20 Aug 2026 · 1,529 MW · 75 21 Aug 2026 · 686 MW · 77 22 Aug 2026 · 162 MW · 29 23 Aug 2026 · 78 MW · 8 24 Aug 2026 · 4 MW · 3 25 Aug 2026 · 224 MW · 28 26 Aug 2026 · 599 MW · 44 27 Aug 2026 · 582 MW · 41 28 Aug 2026 · 968 MW · 130 29 Aug 2026 · 685 MW · 52 30 Aug 2026 · 454 MW · 40 31 Aug 2026 · 249 MW · 15 1 Sept 2026 · 39 MW · 7 3 Sept 2026 · 5 MW · 1 4 Sept 2026 · 5 MW · 1
25 Jul 5 Aug 20 Aug 31 Aug

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
40km/h · peak gust
18%lowest humidity

It had gone 13 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

100% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 912 ha in 2017, 684 ha in 2019, 6,813 ha in 2020, 535 ha in 2021, 11,915 ha in 2022, 12,969 ha in 2024. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 13,176 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 6.5% of the area of London (103 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. Marcelândia 11,396 inhabitants where it started
    10,746 ha reached on 25 Jul
    0.9 %
  2. União do Sul 3,838 inhabitants
    2,508 ha reached on 8 Aug
    0.5 %

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 area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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)
25 Jul 36.3 °C 21 % 7 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
26 Jul 37.0 °C 18 % 7 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
27 Jul 36.0 °C 22 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
28 Jul 34.8 °C 35 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
29 Jul 34.3 °C 39 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 24
30 Jul 35.7 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
31 Jul 36.0 °C 22 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
1 Aug 35.7 °C 27 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
2 Aug 35.2 °C 24 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 33
3 Aug 35.0 °C 21 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
4 Aug 34.5 °C 22 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
5 Aug 35.3 °C 22 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
6 Aug 35.5 °C 23 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
7 Aug 35.7 °C 27 % 16 km/h 0.0 mm High 32
8 Aug 36.2 °C 27 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
9 Aug 37.3 °C 25 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
10 Aug 37.8 °C 23 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
11 Aug 36.7 °C 25 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
12 Aug 35.2 °C 22 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
13 Aug 35.8 °C 20 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
14 Aug 36.3 °C 18 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
15 Aug 37.1 °C 20 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
16 Aug 37.6 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
17 Aug 37.2 °C 18 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
18 Aug 36.7 °C 18 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
19 Aug 36.8 °C 19 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
20 Aug 37.3 °C 20 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
21 Aug 37.0 °C 23 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
22 Aug 37.4 °C 24 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
23 Aug 36.7 °C 25 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
24 Aug 37.0 °C 25 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
25 Aug 38.2 °C 23 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Aug 37.5 °C 23 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
27 Aug 37.0 °C 29 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
28 Aug 37.0 °C 31 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
29 Aug 38.0 °C 25 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
30 Aug 38.5 °C 24 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
31 Aug 38.6 °C 24 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
1 Sept 37.3 °C 32 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
2 Sept 33.7 °C 47 % 26 km/h 0.1 mm High 29
3 Sept 36.4 °C 36 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
4 Sept 36.5 °C 38 % 34 km/h 3.1 mm Moderate 17
5 Sept after 34.0 °C 40 % 15 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
6 Sept after 33.1 °C 45 % 16 km/h 0.3 mm High 21
7 Sept after 30.7 °C 57 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
8 Sept after 32.7 °C 52 % 25 km/h 0.6 mm Moderate 17
9 Sept after 33.0 °C 48 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
10 Sept after 35.8 °C 32 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
11 Sept after 37.7 °C 21 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
12 Sept after 37.5 °C 21 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
13 Sept after 38.2 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
14 Sept after 35.7 °C 34 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 36
15 Sept after 36.5 °C 32 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
16 Sept after 36.5 °C 33 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
17 Sept after 37.7 °C 28 % 24 km/h 0.1 mm High 35
18 Sept after 37.8 °C 25 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
19 Sept after 38.2 °C 19 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
20 Sept after 38.1 °C 20 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 18 Jul 2026
After · 11 Sept 2026

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 22 August 2026 the air beside the fire reached 190 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 105: 7.0 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak190 µg/m³
Days over the guideline17 days
PM10191 µg/m³
Optical depth0.80
23 Jul3 Aug14 Aug25 Aug5 Sept
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 · 802Every 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 Marcelândia fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 25 July 2026 to 4 September 2026 (42 days). The perimeter dates it from 31 July 2026 to 4 September 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 10,341 hectares (103.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Marcelândia (10,746 ha, 0.9 %); União do Sul (2,508 ha, 0.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 38.6 °C, humidity dropped to 18 % and gusts hit 40 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 48, 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 · 1 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Area: 13,163 → 10,341 ha.

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; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 31 July 2026 to 4 September 2026. 802 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.