Pinhal de Leiria fire, October 2017
Marinha Grande, Coimbrão, Vieira de Leiria
Out · last detection 22 Oct 2017, 14:06 UTC
The fire started on 15 October 2017 in Pataias e Martingança, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 8 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 18,900 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 8 freguesias. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 15 October 2017 at 14:33 and declared extinguished on 17 October 2017.
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
28.9°C · 31% RH
High of 28.9 °C and minimum humidity of 31% on 15 October 2017; gusts of 52 km/h on 16 October 2017.
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.
Living inside
model
≈ 1,000people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 39 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2015).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
ⓘ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
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official ICNF record
Matches: 19,843 ha in the official record (records: 2).
· reconstructedweather
Weather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
· reconstructedGHSL
Population and built-up area computed
· reconstructedpress
Cross-check with press and agencies published
Polígrafo · Região de Leiria · Correio da Manhã · Sábado
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
Burnt area inside each freguesia, 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
Coniferous forest63 %
Scrub and transitional woodland34 %
Mixed forest1.4 %
Agricultural areas1.3 %
Artificial surfaces0.6 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2015
Built-up area39ha
Residents≈ 1,000
Inside the perimeter there were about 39 hectares of built-up land and about 1,000 residents (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.
According to ICNF, 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 19,843 ha (the satellite measured 18,900 ha).
ICNF records each fire that started at a different time or place separately; the satellite sees a single burned area, so this page groups them together. The numbers on the map show where each one started.
Official figures are measured differently from satellite ones and sometimes cover only part of the fire.
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)
15 Oct
28.9 °C
31 %
42 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 45
16 Oct
21.6 °C
67 %
52 km/h
10.1 mm
Low 8
17 Oct
19.7 °C
63 %
38 km/h
17.0 mm
Very low 2
18 Oct
17.9 °C
73 %
36 km/h
4.5 mm
Very low 0
19 Oct
18.9 °C
82 %
27 km/h
0.6 mm
Very low 1
20 Oct
19.7 °C
93 %
28 km/h
4.8 mm
Very low 0
21 Oct
18.3 °C
68 %
41 km/h
0.5 mm
Very low 1
22 Oct
17.4 °C
61 %
41 km/h
0.0 mm
Low 6
23 Oct after
20.5 °C
57 %
26 km/h
0.0 mm
Very low 5
24 Oct after
24.4 °C
43 %
31 km/h
0.0 mm
Low 11
25 Oct after
22.7 °C
58 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 12
26 Oct after
25.2 °C
51 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Low 10
27 Oct after
25.1 °C
54 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Low 10
28 Oct after
24.3 °C
47 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 13
29 Oct after
21.7 °C
46 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 12
30 Oct after
21.0 °C
54 %
31 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 13
31 Oct after
22.0 °C
52 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 16
1 Nov after
20.7 °C
66 %
38 km/h
0.1 mm
Moderate 18
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 45.0, a minimum humidity of 31% and 47 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 42.
FWI at the start45.0
Minimum humidity31 %
Days without rain47
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Pinhal de Leiria fire, October 2017
18,900 ha8 daysFWI 45.0Min. humidity 31 %
Santa Marta de Penaguião fire, August 2022
278 ha2 daysFWI 45.6Min. humidity 33 %65 km away, in 2022
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 57.7 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 8 days, against 2 days.
None of its 42 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 19 of 42, 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 2.2 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
52km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 22 Oct, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 23 of 42, with a median of 2.2 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 8 Oct 2017
After · 29 Oct 2017
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 16 October 2017 the air beside the fire reached 112 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 49: 3.3 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak112µg/m³
Days over the guideline6days
PM10133µg/m³
WHO 15
13 Oct17 Oct21 Oct25 Oct29 Oct
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· 36Every 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 15 October 2017 and 22 October 2017: 8 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, the largest of the 2 recorded fires was detected on 15 October 2017 at 14:33 and declared extinguished on 17 October 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 18,900 hectares (189.0 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 8 freguesias: Marinha Grande (6,577 ha, 48 %); Coimbrão (3,144 ha, 60 %); Vieira de Leiria (3,060 ha, 71 %); Carriço (2,368 ha, 29 %); Pataias e Martingança (2,358 ha, 27 %); União das Freguesias de Guia, Ilha e Mata Mourisca (973 ha, 12 %); Monte Real e Carvide (428 ha, 16 %); Moita (15 ha, 1.8 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire reached the centre of Coimbrão: the point marking it was inside the burnt area or less than 500 metres from it. That does not mean houses burned.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 28.9 °C, humidity dropped to 31 % and gusts hit 52 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 45, class Very high.
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.
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: 42. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 328 ha; 19 % went past 1,000 ha. None of its 42 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 19 of 42, 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 2.2 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.
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. 36 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 19,843 official ha against 18,900 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
Checked against news and agencies: 4 confirmed sources.
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.
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. Freguesia boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). The area per freguesia is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.