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Pinrang fire, August 2026 Pinrang, Sidenreng Rappang, Kota Parepare

Out · last detection 20 Sept 2026, 05:08 UTC

The fire started on 31 August 2026 in Pinrang, Indonesia, and satellites saw it burning for 21 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 1,669 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 municipalities.

It is the 18th largest in South Sulawesi since 2016 (of 21 with a page). Number 837 in Indonesia in 2026, of 988.

The power measured by the satellite is low (25.7 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Burnt area
1,669ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
21days
31 Aug 2026 – 20 Sept 2026
Municipalities hit
3
regencies
Started on
31 Aug
2026
Heat detections
57
in a single hotspot: 26 MW
Danger at start
42
Very high · FWI index
Energy released
360MW
sum of detected power

Where it burned

20 Sept 2026
HOTSPOTS BY DAY 31 Aug20 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

3113456791011121316171920

Fire radiative power detected each day, in megawatts, and number of hotspots. The magenta bar marks the peak day.

The weather it burned in

34°high
64km/h · peak gust
27%lowest humidity

It had gone 53 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

18% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 308 ha in 2025.

What happened to each town

  1. Pinrang where it started
    1,146 ha reached on 1 Sept
    0.6 %
  2. Sidenreng Rappang
    306 ha reached on 31 Aug
    0.2 %
  3. Kota Parepare
    228 ha reached on 31 Aug
    2.6 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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.

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)
31 Aug 33.3 °C 40 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
1 Sept 32.8 °C 35 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 45
2 Sept 33.2 °C 39 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
3 Sept 33.2 °C 46 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 38
4 Sept 33.6 °C 43 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
5 Sept 32.5 °C 48 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
6 Sept 33.3 °C 49 % 36 km/h 0.1 mm High 36
7 Sept 32.0 °C 49 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
8 Sept 33.8 °C 43 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
9 Sept 33.2 °C 45 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Sept 33.2 °C 40 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
11 Sept 33.8 °C 29 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
12 Sept 33.5 °C 36 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
13 Sept 33.2 °C 35 % 54 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
14 Sept 33.1 °C 31 % 64 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
15 Sept 33.5 °C 29 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 62
16 Sept 34.0 °C 27 % 56 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
17 Sept 33.9 °C 33 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
18 Sept 34.0 °C 32 % 52 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
19 Sept 33.8 °C 45 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
20 Sept 34.5 °C 38 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
21 Sept after 34.7 °C 42 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
22 Sept after 34.5 °C 42 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
23 Sept after 33.0 °C 50 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
24 Sept after 33.7 °C 45 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
25 Sept after 33.9 °C 46 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
26 Sept after 34.5 °C 44 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
27 Sept after 34.5 °C 45 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 39
28 Sept after 34.5 °C 39 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
29 Sept after 34.3 °C 45 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
30 Sept after 34.2 °C 40 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm High 37

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 24 Aug 2026
After · 27 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 3 September 2026 the air beside the fire reached 53 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 23: 1.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak53 µg/m³
Days over the guideline11 days
PM1059 µg/m³
Optical depth0.49
2930311234567891011121314151617181920212223
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 · 57Every 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 Indonesia ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Pinrang fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 31 August 2026 to 20 September 2026 (21 days). The perimeter dates it from 4 September 2026 to 14 September 2026.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 1,669 hectares (16.7 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Pinrang (1,146 ha, 0.6 %); Sidenreng Rappang (306 ha, 0.2 %); Kota Parepare (228 ha, 2.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 34.5 °C, humidity dropped to 27 % and gusts hit 64 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 62, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Indonesia (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

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
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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 112.

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.