How long did the Plasencia fire last?

The official perimeter only gives the start date (1 July 2026). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 17 September 2026 (79 days from 1 July 2026), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 216 hectares (2.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 2 municipalities: Malpartida de Plasencia (130 ha, 0.4 %); Plasencia (86 ha, 0.4 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The fire started in Plasencia and came within 1.6 km of its centre. 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 39.6 °C, humidity dropped to 9 % and gusts hit 56 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 56, class Extreme.

Where does this data come from?

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

ES · Spain · 2026-07-01 → 2026-09-17

Plasencia fire, July 2026 Malpartida de Plasencia, Plasencia

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2026, 01:39 UTC

The fire started on 1 July 2026 in Plasencia, Spain, and satellites saw it burning for 79 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 216 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 45th largest in Cáceres since 2016 (of 70 with a page). Number 103 in Spain in 2026, of 195.

The power measured by the satellite is low (0.5 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Malpartida de Plasencia · 2020 Jarilla · 2025 Casas de Millán · 2026 Garganta la Olla · 2020

Burnt area: 216ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: ≈ 79days; 1 Jul 2026 – 17 Sept 2026
Municipalities hit: 2; municipalities
Started on: 1 Jul; 2026
Heat detections: 2; in a single hotspot: 0 MW
Danger at start: 48; Very high · FWI index
Average daily power: 1MW; detected power per day, on average

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 1 Jul17 Sept

How it evolved, day by day

17 Sept 2026 · 1 MW · 2

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

The weather it burned in

40°high

56km/h · peak gust

9%lowest humidity

It had gone 6 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

32% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 62 ha in 2020, 7 ha in 2025.

62 ha Malpartida de Plasencia fire, August 2020 568 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire

What happened to each town

Malpartida de Plasencia 4,666 inhabitants · 3.0 km from the centre

130 ha

0.4 %
Plasencia 40,132 inhabitants · 1.6 km from the centre where it started

86 ha reached on 17 Sept

0.4 %

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

Sclerophyllous scrub82 %
Broadleaved forest11 %
Other natural land4.2 %
Agricultural areas2.3 %

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

People and buildings inside the perimeter

GHSL 2025

Built-up area0.35 ha

Residents≈ 30

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.35 hectares of built-up land and about 30 residents (GHSL 2025, 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. The GHSL 2025 epoch is a projection made from 2020 and earlier data.

Source: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHS-BUILT-S and GHS-POP R2023A), European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC), © European Union, CC BY 4.0. Sum inside the perimeter computed by WorldFires. human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu

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)
1 Jul	38.1 °C	18 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
2 Jul	37.2 °C	11 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 51
3 Jul	37.9 °C	18 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
4 Jul	38.9 °C	14 %	23 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
5 Jul	38.8 °C	15 %	24 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
6 Jul	39.6 °C	15 %	25 km/h	0.2 mm	Very high 50
7 Jul	38.2 °C	16 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
8 Jul	38.4 °C	9 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 51
9 Jul	36.5 °C	11 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
10 Jul	35.7 °C	13 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
11 Jul	35.5 °C	18 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 56
12 Jul	28.5 °C	27 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
13 Jul	30.5 °C	26 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
14 Jul	33.2 °C	21 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
15 Jul	32.8 °C	23 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
16 Jul	33.6 °C	19 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
17 Jul	32.4 °C	19 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
18 Jul	33.1 °C	18 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
19 Jul	33.5 °C	18 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
20 Jul	32.4 °C	18 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
21 Jul	33.5 °C	19 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 38
22 Jul	35.9 °C	16 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
23 Jul	34.9 °C	15 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
24 Jul	29.5 °C	26 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
25 Jul	28.2 °C	28 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
26 Jul	32.2 °C	21 %	20 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
27 Jul	35.6 °C	13 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
28 Jul	38.3 °C	14 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
29 Jul	36.9 °C	22 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
30 Jul	36.6 °C	19 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
31 Jul	36.0 °C	12 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 48
1 Aug	37.3 °C	13 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 51
2 Aug	34.9 °C	16 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
3 Aug	31.4 °C	31 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
4 Aug	32.4 °C	27 %	33 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
5 Aug	34.8 °C	24 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
6 Aug	37.5 °C	16 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
7 Aug	37.9 °C	15 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 49
8 Aug	37.3 °C	17 %	33 km/h	0.2 mm	Extreme 54
9 Aug	33.6 °C	17 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
10 Aug	34.4 °C	17 %	25 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
11 Aug	35.2 °C	19 %	23 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
12 Aug	37.8 °C	14 %	21 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
13 Aug	38.9 °C	14 %	22 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
14 Aug	36.7 °C	21 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
15 Aug	32.7 °C	24 %	31 km/h	0.5 mm	Very high 44
16 Aug	35.0 °C	16 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
17 Aug	38.6 °C	16 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
18 Aug	37.6 °C	21 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
19 Aug	34.0 °C	24 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
20 Aug	29.3 °C	32 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
21 Aug	30.7 °C	26 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
22 Aug	31.7 °C	20 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
23 Aug	31.2 °C	19 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
24 Aug	24.7 °C	45 %	56 km/h	7.8 mm	Low 8
25 Aug	25.4 °C	40 %	23 km/h	0.3 mm	Moderate 12
26 Aug	24.3 °C	46 %	47 km/h	3.6 mm	Low 7
27 Aug	20.3 °C	49 %	48 km/h	10.0 mm	Very low 2
28 Aug	25.1 °C	39 %	23 km/h	0.0 mm	Low 5
29 Aug	29.7 °C	27 %	19 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 17
30 Aug	30.3 °C	33 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 21
31 Aug	31.4 °C	21 %	18 km/h	0.0 mm	High 26
1 Sept	31.6 °C	21 %	19 km/h	0.0 mm	High 26
2 Sept	35.1 °C	17 %	17 km/h	0.0 mm	High 30
3 Sept	38.4 °C	11 %	20 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 38
4 Sept	36.3 °C	14 %	18 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
5 Sept	29.5 °C	25 %	33 km/h	0.5 mm	High 36
6 Sept	36.3 °C	18 %	24 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
7 Sept	37.1 °C	15 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
8 Sept	32.5 °C	18 %	38 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
9 Sept	29.7 °C	30 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
10 Sept	29.3 °C	16 %	20 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
11 Sept	32.4 °C	13 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 38
12 Sept	33.8 °C	14 %	23 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 39
13 Sept	34.2 °C	15 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
14 Sept	35.5 °C	15 %	22 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
15 Sept	35.7 °C	15 %	29 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
16 Sept	30.2 °C	28 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
17 Sept	27.5 °C	26 %	26 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
18 Sept after	28.8 °C	31 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
19 Sept after	30.1 °C	27 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
20 Sept after	31.3 °C	26 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
21 Sept after	32.5 °C	20 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 36
22 Sept after	35.0 °C	11 %	27 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
23 Sept after	35.0 °C	14 %	22 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
24 Sept after	35.0 °C	15 %	21 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 46
25 Sept after	34.2 °C	16 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
26 Sept after	33.4 °C	14 %	16 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
27 Sept after	30.0 °C	22 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 24 Jun 2026

After · 24 Sept 2026

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 4 July 2026 the air beside the fire reached 12 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak12 µg/m³

Days over the guideline0 days

PM1016 µg/m³

Optical depth0.15

29301234

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 · 2Every 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 Spain ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Plasencia fire last?: The official perimeter only gives the start date (1 July 2026). The end comes from the heat detections inside the perimeter: it burned until 17 September 2026 (79 days from 1 July 2026), the last day with detections before more than 10 days in a row without any, so it is approximate.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 216 hectares (2.2 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 2 municipalities: Malpartida de Plasencia (130 ha, 0.4 %); Plasencia (86 ha, 0.4 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The fire started in Plasencia and came within 1.6 km of its centre. 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 39.6 °C, humidity dropped to 9 % and gusts hit 56 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 56, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?: From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Spain (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 · Emergency number and official warnings ›

MITECO · Incendios forestales ↗
Protección Civil ↗

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · Copernicus ↗

History of this page Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.

No changes since 24 October 2026.

RSS Changes to this page

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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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How we know this

Perimeter: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
The official perimeter has no end date: the end is the last day with VIIRS detections inside the perimeter before a gap of more than 10 days (150 days at most), so it is approximate. 2 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
We have not matched this page with any official record.
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 2025, 100 m cells), summed inside the perimeter: an estimate of what was there, not a damage count.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

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 (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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