Ponte da Barca fire, 17 September 2024
Sampriz, Cuide de Vila Verde, Vade (São Tomé)
Out · last detection 18 Sept 2024, 02:37 UTC
The fire started on 17 September 2024 in Sampriz, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 197 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 3 freguesias.
It is the 6th largest in Ponte da Barca since 2016 (of 10 with a page). Number 55 in Portugal in 2024, of 69.
The power measured by the satellite is low (13.9 MW in the strongest hotspot), more typical of grass or stubble burning, or a slow surface fire, than of a large crown fire.
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
197ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page197ICNF251
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 19 September 2024
+− cross-check
ICNF: 251 ha (matched records: 2). Difference between the page and the official record: −21.6%. 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
3days
17 Sept 2024 to 19 Sept 2024: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 18 Sept 2024, 02:37 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
17 Sept 2024
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
17 Sept 2024
+− 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
16
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 14 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
17 Sept 2024 – 19 Sept 2024
+− 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
80MW
Total radiative power on 17 September 2024; hotspots that day: 12.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
17 Sept 2024
+− 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
45.2FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 9.
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
27.4°C · 23% RH
High of 27.4 °C and minimum humidity of 23% on 17 September 2024; gusts of 40 km/h on 17 September 2024.
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.
ⓘ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: 251 ha (records: 2).
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
Scrub and transitional woodland41 %
Agricultural areas22 %
Other natural land22 %
Broadleaved forest12 %
Mixed forest4.0 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
Several official records match this area
According to ICNF, 2 fires started inside this perimeter on these dates, totalling 251 ha (the satellite measured 197 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)
17 Sept
27.4 °C
23 %
40 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 45
18 Sept
25.3 °C
34 %
31 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
19 Sept
22.1 °C
57 %
32 km/h
0.1 mm
High 23
20 Sept after
19.5 °C
74 %
27 km/h
6.2 mm
Very low 2
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 45.2, a minimum humidity of 23% and 9 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 24.
FWI at the start45.2
Minimum humidity23 %
Days without rain9
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Ponte da Barca fire, 17 September 2024
197 ha3 daysFWI 45.2Min. humidity 23 %
Ferral fire, August 2016
152 ha5 daysFWI 44.9Min. humidity 23 %33 km away, in 2016
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.7 mm on 17 Aug.
It burned an area similar to its twins (197 ha against a median of 183 ha) and lasted 3 days, against 2 days.
In 11 of 24, 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 1.7 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
6.2 mmfirst rain
20 Septthe day after it ended
40km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 19 Sept, and on 20 Sept 6.2 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 13 of 24, with a median of 1.7 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 · 10 Sept 2024
After · 26 Sept 2024
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 20 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 94 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 40: 2.7 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak94µg/m³
Days over the guideline3days
PM10115µg/m³
Optical depth4.31
WHO 15
15 Sept17 Sept19 Sept21 Sept
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· 16Every 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 17 September 2024 to 19 September 2024 (3 days). The perimeter dates it from 17 September 2024 to 18 September 2024.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 197 hectares (2.0 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 3 freguesias: Sampriz (146 ha, 22 %); Cuide de Vila Verde (48 ha, 12 %); Vade (São Tomé) (3 ha, 1.9 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Sampriz and reached its centre: 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 27.4 °C, humidity dropped to 23 % and gusts hit 40 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: 24. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 183 ha; 17 % went past 1,000 ha. In 11 of 24, 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 1.7 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 17 September 2024 to 18 September 2024. 16 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 251 official ha against 197 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
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.