Pinheiro fire, October 2017
Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires, Pinheiro, União das Freguesias de Picão e Ermida
Out · last detection 15 Oct 2017, 01:34 UTC
The fire started on 5 October 2017 in Pinheiro, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 11 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 1,322 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 5 freguesias.
It is the 3th largest in Castro Daire since 2016 (of 16 with a page). Number 46 in Portugal in 2017, of 211.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
When copying, the sentence is
Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
1,322ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page1,322ICNF884
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
ICNF: 884 ha (matched records: 8). Difference between the page and the official record: +49.6%. Matched on 8 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
11days
5 Oct 2017 to 15 Oct 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 15 Oct 2017, 01:34 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
5 Oct 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
5 Oct 2017
+− 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
104
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 91 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
5 Oct 2017 – 15 Oct 2017
+− 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
632MW
Total radiative power on 9 October 2017; hotspots that day: 41.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
9 Oct 2017
+− 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
20.2FWI · moderate
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 35.
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
25.5°C · 20% RH
High of 25.5 °C and minimum humidity of 20% on 15 October 2017; gusts of 64 km/h on 15 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
≈ 40people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 2.1 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
Nearby records with very different figures: 884 ha (records: 8).
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.
Natura 2000 sites (European Environment Agency, 2024 release) crossed by the perimeter.
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2015
Built-up area2.1ha
Residents≈ 40
Inside the perimeter there were about 2.1 hectares of built-up land and about 40 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, 8 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 884 ha (the satellite measured 1,322 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
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.
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)
5 Oct
21.7 °C
31 %
24 km/h
0.0 mm
Moderate 20
6 Oct
22.3 °C
26 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
High 25
7 Oct
21.3 °C
12 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
8 Oct
22.1 °C
15 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
9 Oct
20.5 °C
21 %
22 km/h
0.0 mm
High 27
10 Oct
20.4 °C
20 %
18 km/h
0.0 mm
High 28
11 Oct
19.3 °C
20 %
29 km/h
0.0 mm
High 30
12 Oct
21.8 °C
25 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
13 Oct
19.0 °C
37 %
19 km/h
0.0 mm
High 24
14 Oct
22.8 °C
27 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 28
15 Oct
25.5 °C
20 %
64 km/h
0.7 mm
Very high 40
16 Oct after
16.3 °C
43 %
42 km/h
2.1 mm
High 23
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 20.2, a minimum humidity of 31% and 35 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 62.
FWI at the start20.2
Minimum humidity31 %
Days without rain35
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Pinheiro fire, October 2017
1,322 ha11 daysFWI 20.2Min. humidity 31 %
Eiriz fire, August 2017
240 ha2 daysFWI 20.6Min. humidity 31 %51 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 6.2 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 11 days, against 2 days.
Only 3 of its 62 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 21 of 62, 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 3.8 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
2.1 mmfirst rain
16 Octthe day after it ended
64km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 15 Oct, and on 16 Oct 2.1 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 41 of 62, with a median of 3.8 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 28 Sept 2017
After · 22 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 434 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 179: 12 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak434µg/m³
Days over the guideline9days
PM10478µg/m³
WHO 15
7 Oct10 Oct13 Oct16 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· 104Every 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.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 5 October 2017 to 15 October 2017 (11 days). The perimeter dates it from 12 October 2017 to 12 October 2017.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 1,322 hectares (13.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 5 freguesias: Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires (466 ha, 12 %); Pinheiro (410 ha, 21 %); União das Freguesias de Picão e Ermida (282 ha, 18 %); Gosende (158 ha, 7.7 %); Parada de Ester e Ester (7 ha, 0.2 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire reached the centre of Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires: 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 25.5 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 64 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 40, 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: 62. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 213 ha; 13 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 3 of its 62 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 21 of 62, 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 3.8 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.
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 adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 12 October 2017 to 12 October 2017. 104 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 884 official ha against 1,322 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
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.