The fire started on 31 July 2024 in Pozzomaggiore, Italy, and satellites saw it burning for 1 day. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 579 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities.
It is the 3th largest in Tàttari/Sassari since 2016 (of 17 with a page). Number 4 in Italy in 2024, of 112.
The power measured by the satellite is low (1.9 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
matches the official record
579ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page579CFVA Sardegna584
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 1 August 2024
+− cross-check
CFVA Sardegna: 584 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: −0.9%. Matched on 1 November 2026.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
1day
31 Jul 2024 to 31 Jul 2024: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 31 Jul 2024, 01:15 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
matches the official record
30 Jul 2024
Alert according to CFVA Sardegna: 30 July 2024.
Source
CFVA Sardegna · 2024/SS/0186
Date
matched to the page on 1 November 2026
+− cross-check
First day with fire on the page (satellite or perimeter): 31 July 2024.
Hotspots
satellite only
10
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 2 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
31 Jul 2024 – 31 Jul 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
9MW
Total radiative power on 31 July 2024; hotspots that day: 10.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
31 Jul 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
38.0FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 36.
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
31.7°C · 38% RH
High of 31.7 °C and minimum humidity of 38% on 31 July 2024; gusts of 27 km/h on 31 July 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
· reconstructedweather
Weather and FWI computed from the ERA5 reanalysis
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official CFVA Sardegna record
Matches: 584 ha in the official record (records: 1).
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 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
Agricultural areas93 %
Sclerophyllous scrub6.9 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to CFVA Sardegna, this fire started on 30 July 2024 and burned 584 ha (the satellite measured 579 ha).
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 Jul
31.7 °C
38 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 38
1 Aug after
31.4 °C
39 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 40
2 Aug after
32.6 °C
31 %
27 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
3 Aug after
28.6 °C
60 %
39 km/h
0.4 mm
High 32
4 Aug after
26.3 °C
63 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
5 Aug after
27.6 °C
61 %
34 km/h
0.0 mm
High 30
6 Aug after
27.7 °C
52 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
High 26
7 Aug after
29.4 °C
50 %
25 km/h
0.0 mm
High 27
8 Aug after
30.2 °C
51 %
28 km/h
0.0 mm
High 29
9 Aug after
30.5 °C
49 %
33 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
10 Aug after
30.2 °C
47 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 31
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 38.0, a minimum humidity of 38% and 36 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 26.
FWI at the start38.0
Minimum humidity38 %
Days without rain36
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Pozzomaggiore fire, July 2024
579 ha1 dayFWI 38.0Min. humidity 38 %
Uta fire, July 2019
132 ha1 dayFWI 39.1Min. humidity 34 %126 km away, in 2019
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It was 2.6 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 1 day, against 1 day.
Only 3 of its 26 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 18 of 26, 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 2.2 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
—first rain
—no rain in ten days
27km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 31 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 8 of 26, with a median of 2.2 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 · 24 Jul 2024
After · 7 Aug 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 2 August 2024 the air beside the fire reached 18 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak18µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1041µg/m³
Optical depth0.40
WHO 15
29 Jul31 Jul2 Aug
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· 10Every 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.
Copernicus dates it between 31 July 2024 and 31 July 2024: 1 day between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 579 hectares (5.8 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Pozzomaggiore (579 ha, 7.3 %); Suni (0 ha, 0.0 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Pozzomaggiore and came within 5.4 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 31.7 °C, humidity dropped to 38 % and gusts hit 27 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 38, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Italy (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: 26. Their median duration was 1 day and their median area 221 ha; 4 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 3 of its 26 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 18 of 26, 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 2.2 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 from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. 10 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with CFVA Sardegna: 584 official ha against 579 ha of perimeter; they agree within 25%.
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. Municipal boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM4 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License). 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.