How long did the Resende fire last?

Copernicus dates it between 16 August 2016 and 17 August 2016: 2 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 16 August 2016 at 10:08 and declared extinguished on 16 August 2016.

How much area did it burn?

The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 101 hectares (1.0 km²). Official national figures may differ.

Which municipalities burned?

The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ovadas e Panchora (95 ha, 4.0 %); Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires (6 ha, 0.2 %).

Did the fire reach a town?

The closest fire to a town centre came within 1.3 km of Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.

What was the weather like?

During the fire the temperature reached 21.9 °C, humidity dropped to 45 % and gusts hit 37 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 25, class 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.

PT · Portugal · 2016-08-16 → 2016-08-17

Resende fire, 16 August 2016 Ovadas e Panchora, Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires

Out · last detection 16 Aug 2016, 14:07 UTC

The fire started on 16 August 2016 in Ovadas e Panchora, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 2 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 101 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 2 municipalities. According to ICNF, it was detected on 16 August 2016 at 10:08 and declared extinguished on 16 August 2016.

It is the 10th largest in Resende since 2016 (of 10 with a page). Number 176 in Portugal in 2016, of 179.

Burnt area: 101ha; Copernicus perimeter
Duration: 2days; 16 Aug 2016 – 17 Aug 2016
Municipalities hit: 2; freguesias
Started on: 16 Aug; 2016
Heat detections: 8; in a single hotspot: 71 MW
Danger at start: 25; High · FWI index
Energy released: 378MW; sum of detected power

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 16 Aug17 Aug

How it evolved, day by day

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

The weather it burned in

22°high

37km/h · peak gust

45%lowest humidity

It had gone 39 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 2.3 mm on 19 Aug.

This area had burned before

No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.

What happened to each town

Ovadas e Panchora 283 inhabitants · 1.9 km from the town where it started

95 ha reached on 16 Aug

4.0 %
Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires 517 inhabitants · 1.3 km from the town

6 ha reached on 16 Aug

0.2 %

Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the official 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.

What burned

Other natural land55 %
Scrub and transitional woodland41 %
Agricultural areas3.0 %
Broadleaved forest1.0 %

Natura 2000 protected area affected: 100 %

LIC Serra de Montemuro PTCON0025

Natura 2000 sites (European Environment Agency, 2024 release) crossed by the perimeter.

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

Official record

According to ICNF, this fire started on 16 August 2016 and burned 94 ha (the satellite measured 101 ha).

Resende Panchorra 16 August 2016 · 10:08 94 ha · extinguished on 16 August 2016 · cause: negligence

ICNF (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas). This is the agency’s operational record: its figures may be revised when the year’s statistics are closed.

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)
16 Aug	21.9 °C	45 %	37 km/h	0.0 mm	High 25
17 Aug	20.4 °C	60 %	37 km/h	0.9 mm	Moderate 13
18 Aug after	22.6 °C	39 %	36 km/h	0.0 mm	Moderate 19
19 Aug after	19.1 °C	67 %	39 km/h	2.3 mm	Low 6

Before and after, from space

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

↔

Before · 9 Aug 2016

After · 24 Aug 2016

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 August 2016 the air beside the fire reached 88 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 49: 3.2 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak88 µg/m³

Days over the guideline3 days

PM10102 µg/m³

WHO 15

14151617181920

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 · 8Every 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 Portugal ›

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Resende fire last?: Copernicus dates it between 16 August 2016 and 17 August 2016: 2 days between the first and last image with fire. According to ICNF, it was detected on 16 August 2016 at 10:08 and declared extinguished on 16 August 2016.
How much area did it burn?: The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 101 hectares (1.0 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?: The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ovadas e Panchora (95 ha, 4.0 %); Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires (6 ha, 0.2 %).
Did the fire reach a town?: The closest fire to a town centre came within 1.3 km of Alhões, Bustelo, Gralheira e Ramires. That is the distance to the perimeter or nearest hotspot; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?: During the fire the temperature reached 21.9 °C, humidity dropped to 45 % and gusts hit 37 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 25, class 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.

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

NASA FIRMS ↗
EFFIS · 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.

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What really happened?

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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 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 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). 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