How long did the Penamacor fire last?

Copernicus dates it between 28 July 2025 and 30 July 2025: 3 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 28 July 2025 at 16:36 and declared extinguished on 30 July 2025.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 3,019 hectares (30.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 5 municipalities: Medelim (1,180 ha, 39 %); Pedrógão de São Pedro e Bemposta (833 ha, 26 %); Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires (652 ha, 20 %); Proença-a-Velha (358 ha, 6.2 %); Penamacor (0 ha, 0.0 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.2 km of Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 35.6 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 42 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, class Extreme.

Where does this data come from?

From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (geoBoundaries). It is not an official report.

PT · Portugal · 2025-07-28 → 2025-07-30

Penamacor fire, July 2025 Medelim, Pedrógão de São Pedro e Bemposta, Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires

Out · last detection 29 Jul 2025, 14:14 UTC

The fire started on 28 July 2025 in Medelim, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 3,019 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 5 municipalities. According to ICNF, it was detected on 28 July 2025 at 16:36 and declared extinguished on 30 July 2025.

Number 13 in Portugal in 2025, of 85.

Burnt area: 3,019ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: 3days; 28 Jul 2025 – 30 Jul 2025
Municipalities hit: 5; freguesias
Started on: 28 Jul; 2025
Heat detections: 115; in a single hotspot: 121 MW
Danger at start: 60; Extreme · FWI index
Energy released: 1.2GW; sum of detected power

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 28 Jul30 Jul

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

36°high

42km/h · peak gust

14%lowest humidity

It had gone 33 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

Medelim 230 inhabitants · 0.3 km from the town where it started

1,180 ha reached on 29 Jul

39 %
Pedrógão de São Pedro e Bemposta 572 inhabitants · 1.1 km from the town

833 ha reached on 29 Jul

26 %
Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires 882 inhabitants · 0.2 km from the town

652 ha reached on 29 Jul

20 %
Proença-a-Velha 190 inhabitants · 1.2 km from the town

358 ha reached on 29 Jul

6.2 %
Penamacor 1,444 inhabitants · 5.3 km from the town

0 ha

0.0 %

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

Agricultural areas48 %
Scrub and transitional woodland39 %
Sclerophyllous scrub12 %
Broadleaved forest1.0 %

Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.

Official record

According to ICNF, this fire started on 28 July 2025 and burned 2,819 ha (the satellite measured 3,019 ha).

Penamacor Aldeia do Bispo 28 July 2025 · 16:36 2,819 ha · extinguished on 30 July 2025 · cause: negligence

ICNF (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas). This is the agency’s operational record: its figures may be revised when the year’s statistics are closed.

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	Danger (FWI)
28 Jul	35.4 °C	18 %	42 km/h	Extreme 60
29 Jul	35.6 °C	16 %	40 km/h	Extreme 51
30 Jul	35.0 °C	14 %	30 km/h	Very high 48
31 Jul after	36.4 °C	14 %	28 km/h	Extreme 56
1 Aug after	36.7 °C	17 %	35 km/h	Very high 49
2 Aug after	36.3 °C	14 %	28 km/h	Extreme 52
3 Aug after	38.8 °C	12 %	34 km/h	Extreme 55
4 Aug after	38.2 °C	15 %	26 km/h	Very high 49
5 Aug after	38.8 °C	14 %	34 km/h	Extreme 52
6 Aug after	36.8 °C	16 %	29 km/h	Extreme 53
7 Aug after	36.5 °C	10 %	35 km/h	Extreme 50
8 Aug after	36.1 °C	20 %	36 km/h	Very high 47
9 Aug after	37.4 °C	18 %	32 km/h	Very high 49

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 21 Jul 2025

After · 6 Aug 2025

Before After

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 31 July 2025 the air beside the fire reached 33 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 16: 1.1 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak33 µg/m³

Days over the guideline1 day

PM1053 µg/m³

Optical depth0.36

WHO 15

26272829303112

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 · 115Every 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 time	Satellite	FRP (MW)	Lat	Lon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Portugal ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Penamacor fire last?: Copernicus dates it between 28 July 2025 and 30 July 2025: 3 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 28 July 2025 at 16:36 and declared extinguished on 30 July 2025.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 3,019 hectares (30.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 5 municipalities: Medelim (1,180 ha, 39 %); Pedrógão de São Pedro e Bemposta (833 ha, 26 %); Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires (652 ha, 20 %); Proença-a-Velha (358 ha, 6.2 %); Penamacor (0 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The closest fire to a town centre came within 0.2 km of Aldeia do Bispo, Águas e Aldeia de João Pires. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 35.6 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 42 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?: From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (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

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · Copernicus ↗

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.

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What really happened?

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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.

Where it burned