The fire started on 6 August 2023 in Muravera, Italy, and satellites saw it burning for 1 day. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 152 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 24th largest in Sud Sardegna since 2016 (of 37 with a page). Number 139 in Italy in 2023, of 207.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
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Burned area
with caveats
152ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page152CFVA Sardegna228
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 16 November 2023
+− cross-check
CFVA Sardegna: 228 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: −33.3%. Matched on 1 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
1day
6 Aug 2023 to 6 Aug 2023: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 6 Aug 2023, 13:29 UTC
+− cross-check
Satellites pass a few times a day and cloud or smoke can hide the fire: a lack of detections is not an official extinction. Each country’s emergency service declares a fire contained or out.
Start
satellite only
6 Aug 2023
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
6 Aug 2023
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
15
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 392 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
6 Aug 2023 – 6 Aug 2023
+− cross-check
There is no official record to compare with. Each hotspot is a pixel detected in one satellite pass, not a separate fire.
The worst day
satellite only
1,873MW
Total radiative power on 6 August 2023; hotspots that day: 15.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
6 Aug 2023
+− cross-check
Fire radiative power (FRP) measures the energy the fire gives off when the satellite passes. Added up by day, it compares intensity, not area.
Danger at the start
model
92.9FWI · very extreme
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 52.
This is an index computed from weather model data, not a measurement of the fire nor an official warning. Danger warnings are issued by each country’s authority. Emergency number and official warnings ›
Weather during the fire
model
32.5°C · 14% RH
High of 32.5 °C and minimum humidity of 14% on 6 August 2023; gusts of 77 km/h on 6 August 2023.
These are model values for a cell of about 25 km, not from a weather station: they may differ from what was measured on the ground.
ⓘThis page’s change log has been kept since 24 October 2026: every night what it publishes is compared and the difference is logged. Anything earlier is reconstructed from each source’s date and marked as reconstructed.
Show
· reconstructedweather
Weather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CFVA Sardegna record
Nearby records with very different figures: 228 ha (records: 1).
A version keeps the area, dates, name and official record; the area as it was logged (changes under 2% are not logged). The map, hotspots and weather always show today’s data.
Citation
A lede of about 60 words figures only, no adjectives
Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.
The weather it burned in
32°high
77km/h · peak gust
14%lowest humidity
It had gone 52 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
What happened to each town
Muravera5,167 inhabitants · 13.3 km from the centrewhere it started
142 hareached on 6 Aug
1.5 %
Castiadas1,699 inhabitants · 7.9 km from the centre
10 hareached on 6 Aug
0.1 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.
What burned
Agricultural areas56 %
Sclerophyllous scrub44 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to CFVA Sardegna, this fire started on 6 August 2023 and burned 228 ha (the satellite measured 152 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
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)
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 30 Jul 2023
After · 13 Aug 2023
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 4 August 2023 the air beside the fire reached 8 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak8µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1017µg/m³
Optical depth0.39
4 Aug6 Aug8 Aug
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely 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· 15Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Copernicus dates it between 6 August 2023 and 6 August 2023: 1 day between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 152 hectares (1.5 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Muravera (142 ha, 1.5 %); Castiadas (10 ha, 0.1 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire came within 7.9 km of the centre of Castiadas, the closest of the areas it touched. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 32.5 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 77 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 93, class Very extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Italy (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.
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 errorHow we know this›
Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 15 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CFVA Sardegna: 228 official ha against 152 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
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 ADM4 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License). 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.