How long did the Poconé fire last?

GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 18 August 2024 and 9 October 2024: 53 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 162,143 hectares (1,621.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 6 municipalities: Porto Estrela (66,575 ha, 32 %); Cáceres (63,099 ha, 2.6 %); Nossa Senhora do Livramento (26,382 ha, 4.8 %); Poconé (3,442 ha, 0.2 %); Barra do Bugres (3,128 ha, 0.5 %); Rosário Oeste (232 ha, 0.0 %).

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 36.1 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 67 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, class Extreme.

Where does this data come from?

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

BR · Brazil · 2024-08-18 → 2024-10-09

Poconé fire, 18 August 2024 Porto Estrela, Cáceres, Nossa Senhora do Livramento

Out · last detection 9 Oct 2024, 17:13 UTC

The fire started on 18 August 2024 in Poconé, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 53 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 162,143 hectares from heat detections, spread across 6 municipalities.

This page is probably a fire complex, not a single fire. GWIS merges into one perimeter the fires that touch over weeks, which in large burning seasons can join dozens of separate fires. The total area is reliable; the origin and dates refer to the whole complex.

It is the 5th largest in Mato Grosso since 2016 (of 1996 with a page). Number 6 in Brazil in 2024, of 1301.

Compare with…

Suggestions: Nossa Senhora do Livramento · 2020 Cáceres · 2019 Cáceres · 2021 Porto Estrela · 2017

Burnt area: 162,143ha; GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration: 53days; 18 Aug 2024 – 9 Oct 2024
Municipalities hit: 6; municipalities
Started on: 18 Aug; 2024
Heat detections: 8,660; in a single hotspot: 311 MW
Danger at start: 32; High · FWI index
Average daily power: 1.5GW; detected power per day, on average

Play back 9 Oct 2024

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 18 Aug9 Oct

How it evolved, day by day

18 Aug 22 Aug 26 Aug 3 Sept 11 Sept 19 Sept 28 Sept 7 Oct

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

67km/h · peak gust

12%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.0 mm on 16 Oct.

This area had burned before

65% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 10,832 ha in 2017, 1,011 ha in 2018, 35,908 ha in 2019, 68,153 ha in 2020, 13,907 ha in 2021, 55 ha in 2022, 1,896 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 104,586 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

It burned almost the same area as London (1,621 km² against 1,583 km²).

London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).

This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.

What happened to each town

Porto Estrela 3,224 inhabitants

66,575 ha reached on 16 Aug

32 %
Cáceres 89,681 inhabitants

63,099 ha reached on 21 Aug

2.6 %
Nossa Senhora do Livramento

26,382 ha reached on 20 Aug

4.8 %
Poconé 31,217 inhabitants where it started

3,442 ha reached on 19 Aug

0.2 %
Barra do Bugres

3,128 ha reached on 27 Aug

0.5 %
Rosário Oeste

232 ha reached on 17 Sept

0.0 %

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)
11 Aug	26.8 °C	24 %	30 km/h	0.0 mm	High 32
12 Aug	24.0 °C	23 %	49 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
13 Aug	26.4 °C	19 %	35 km/h	0.0 mm	High 38
14 Aug	32.2 °C	17 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
15 Aug	33.5 °C	19 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
16 Aug	32.7 °C	27 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
17 Aug	34.4 °C	20 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
18 Aug	35.0 °C	14 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
19 Aug	34.8 °C	17 %	52 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 55
20 Aug	34.4 °C	16 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 50
21 Aug	33.5 °C	16 %	50 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 55
22 Aug	33.2 °C	20 %	48 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
23 Aug	32.8 °C	23 %	40 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
24 Aug	24.4 °C	47 %	51 km/h	0.0 mm	High 35
25 Aug	19.1 °C	36 %	67 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
26 Aug	22.0 °C	27 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	High 34
27 Aug	30.2 °C	21 %	22 km/h	0.0 mm	High 33
28 Aug	34.2 °C	16 %	28 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 41
29 Aug	34.2 °C	19 %	54 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 53
30 Aug	33.7 °C	19 %	54 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
31 Aug	33.5 °C	20 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
1 Sept	29.8 °C	29 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
2 Sept	32.7 °C	21 %	34 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
3 Sept	34.5 °C	16 %	48 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
4 Sept	34.3 °C	18 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 50
5 Sept	32.9 °C	18 %	58 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 57
6 Sept	33.5 °C	18 %	32 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
7 Sept	36.1 °C	14 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 52
8 Sept	35.9 °C	12 %	45 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 55
9 Sept	35.9 °C	12 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 50
10 Sept	35.5 °C	14 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 56
11 Sept	34.5 °C	18 %	54 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 60
12 Sept	34.8 °C	17 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 54
13 Sept	34.7 °C	21 %	41 km/h	0.0 mm	Extreme 51
14 Sept	33.6 °C	24 %	44 km/h	0.1 mm	Extreme 50
15 Sept	29.6 °C	45 %	34 km/h	0.3 mm	High 33
16 Sept	25.6 °C	53 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 28
17 Sept	33.0 °C	33 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
18 Sept	35.6 °C	20 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
19 Sept	34.4 °C	28 %	44 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 47
20 Sept	34.7 °C	27 %	47 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 45
21 Sept	34.4 °C	27 %	29 km/h	2.5 mm	Moderate 20
22 Sept	35.9 °C	20 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 42
23 Sept	36.0 °C	21 %	42 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 44
24 Sept	34.9 °C	24 %	39 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 43
25 Sept	35.2 °C	21 %	44 km/h	0.1 mm	Very high 46
26 Sept	32.3 °C	40 %	44 km/h	5.1 mm	Low 11
27 Sept	27.9 °C	45 %	51 km/h	0.0 mm	High 22
28 Sept	32.1 °C	36 %	31 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
29 Sept	34.9 °C	26 %	33 km/h	1.1 mm	High 28
30 Sept	34.5 °C	29 %	53 km/h	0.5 mm	Very high 40
1 Oct	34.7 °C	27 %	50 km/h	0.0 mm	Very high 40
2 Oct	33.9 °C	30 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 37
3 Oct	30.6 °C	48 %	31 km/h	5.7 mm	Low 6
4 Oct	33.0 °C	38 %	34 km/h	0.5 mm	Moderate 19
5 Oct	33.3 °C	36 %	35 km/h	1.7 mm	Moderate 16
6 Oct	35.9 °C	27 %	40 km/h	1.6 mm	High 23
7 Oct	34.0 °C	33 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	High 27
8 Oct	34.4 °C	34 %	46 km/h	0.0 mm	High 31
9 Oct	35.0 °C	30 %	45 km/h	11.2 mm	Low 8
10 Oct after	31.9 °C	41 %	42 km/h	1.2 mm	Moderate 13
11 Oct after	31.8 °C	42 %	54 km/h	0.9 mm	Moderate 18
12 Oct after	33.7 °C	34 %	32 km/h	2.4 mm	Low 10
13 Oct after	32.5 °C	41 %	31 km/h	10.4 mm	Very low 2
14 Oct after	34.5 °C	33 %	34 km/h	20.9 mm	Very low 1
15 Oct after	31.3 °C	43 %	27 km/h	12.4 mm	Very low 1
16 Oct after	27.2 °C	60 %	39 km/h	5.0 mm	Very low 0

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 11 Aug 2024

After · 16 Oct 2024

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 14 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 224 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 111: 7.4 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak224 µg/m³

Days over the guideline54 days

PM10321 µg/m³

Optical depth5.77

WHO 15

16171819202122232425262728293031123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930123456789101112

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 · 8,660Every 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 Brazil ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Poconé fire last?: GWIS (Copernicus) dates it between 18 August 2024 and 9 October 2024: 53 days between the first and last heat detection of the perimeter.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 162,143 hectares (1,621.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 6 municipalities: Porto Estrela (66,575 ha, 32 %); Cáceres (63,099 ha, 2.6 %); Nossa Senhora do Livramento (26,382 ha, 4.8 %); Poconé (3,442 ha, 0.2 %); Barra do Bugres (3,128 ha, 0.5 %); Rosário Oeste (232 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 36.1 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 67 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 60, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?: From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Brazil (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: 193

INPE · Programa Queimadas ↗
IBAMA · Prevfogo ↗

Satellite cross-check

NASA FIRMS ↗
GWIS · 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.

Report an error

What do you think is wrong?

Dates or duration Place or towns Burned area Name It was not a wildfire Same fire as another page Something else

What really happened?

Your connection to the fire (optional) Email (optional)

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 193.

How we know this

Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 9 polygons grouped in this page.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 8,660 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.

How we build fire pages: methodology ›

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.

Where it burned