Ribeirão Cascalheira fire, 6 August 2024 Ribeirão Cascalheira, Canarana
The fire started on 6 August 2024 in Ribeirão Cascalheira, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 60 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 116,965 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 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.
Other fire pages in the same area and on the same dates:
- 27,152 haRibeirão Cascalheira1 October 2024 · 6 days
- 12,733 haRibeirão Cascalheira24 September 2024 · 12 days
- 9,821 haCocalinho21 August 2024 · 10 days
- 9,082 haNova Nazaré6 September 2024 · 8 days
- 6,557 haCocalinhoOctober 2024 · 6 days
- 5,903 haCanaranaAugust 2024 · 16 days
- 5,571 haCanaranaSeptember 2024 · 5 days
- 5,149 haRibeirão Cascalheira1 October 2024 · 5 days
It is the 15th largest in Mato Grosso since 2016 (of 1996 with a page). Number 14 in Brazil in 2024, of 1301.
Compare with…
- Burnt area
- 116,965ha
- GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
- Duration
- 60days
- 6 Aug 2024 – 4 Oct 2024
- Municipalities hit
- 2
- municipalities
- Started on
- 6 Aug
- 2024
- Heat detections
- 5,314
- in a single hotspot: 343 MW
- Danger at start
- 43
- Very high · FWI index
- Average daily power
- 1.5GW
- detected power per day, on average
Where it burned
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
It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.3 mm on 11 Oct.
This area had burned before
86% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 43,292 ha in 2016, 39,117 ha in 2017, 29,503 ha in 2018, 40,610 ha in 2019, 36,577 ha in 2020, 39,343 ha in 2021, 34,451 ha in 2022, 11,283 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 100,274 ha that had burned before.
- 28,688 ha Canarana fire, August 2021 33,917 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 28,348 ha Canarana fire, August 2017 32,120 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 27,670 ha Canarana fire, September 2020 31,942 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 19,236 ha Ribeirão Cascalheira fire, August 2018 20,870 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 17,241 ha Ribeirão Cascalheira fire, September 2022 24,355 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 15,274 ha Ribeirão Cascalheira fire, August 2016 27,401 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 14,613 ha Ribeirão Cascalheira fire, August 2019 15,863 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
- 7,698 ha Canarana fire, August 2019 12,916 ha in total; the hectares shown are those it shares with this fire
How big is it?
London boundary: geoBoundaries · Office for National Statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0).
Paris boundary: geoBoundaries · Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN-F) (Etalab Open License 2.0).
Madrid boundary: geoBoundaries · Open Data ESRI, IGN Central Registry of Cartography Area (CC BY 4.0).
Berlin boundary: geoBoundaries · Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (dl-de/by-2-0).
This compares size, not location: both shapes are at the same scale, north up, centred on each other.
What happened to each town
-
88,467 ha reached on 6 Aug7.7 %
-
29,380 ha reached on 7 Aug2.7 %
Burnt area inside each municipality, from crossing the GWIS 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.
People and buildings inside the perimeter
GHSL 2025Inside the perimeter there were about 0.75 hectares of built-up land and about 650 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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 Aug | 33.5 °C | 26 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 7 Aug | 34.1 °C | 22 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 8 Aug | 34.2 °C | 24 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 9 Aug | 34.6 °C | 21 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 10 Aug | 29.5 °C | 36 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 40 |
| 11 Aug | 33.0 °C | 24 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 36 |
| 12 Aug | 33.2 °C | 21 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 13 Aug | 32.7 °C | 16 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 14 Aug | 35.2 °C | 20 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 15 Aug | 34.4 °C | 32 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 41 |
| 16 Aug | 35.3 °C | 31 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 38 |
| 17 Aug | 36.6 °C | 20 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 18 Aug | 36.2 °C | 16 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 19 Aug | 36.1 °C | 17 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 20 Aug | 35.9 °C | 18 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 21 Aug | 35.7 °C | 21 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 22 Aug | 37.0 °C | 19 % | 31 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 23 Aug | 36.9 °C | 19 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 24 Aug | 36.6 °C | 18 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 25 Aug | 34.8 °C | 25 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 26 Aug | 31.9 °C | 29 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 27 Aug | 35.3 °C | 24 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 28 Aug | 36.0 °C | 24 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 29 Aug | 34.6 °C | 25 % | 48 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 30 Aug | 34.9 °C | 25 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 31 Aug | 35.8 °C | 20 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 1 Sept | 36.7 °C | 18 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 39 |
| 2 Sept | 36.5 °C | 18 % | 34 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 3 Sept | 36.9 °C | 16 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 4 Sept | 38.0 °C | 13 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 5 Sept | 38.5 °C | 14 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 6 Sept | 37.5 °C | 14 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 7 Sept | 37.7 °C | 14 % | 36 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 8 Sept | 37.4 °C | 14 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 9 Sept | 37.1 °C | 16 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 10 Sept | 37.0 °C | 17 % | 37 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 11 Sept | 37.1 °C | 16 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 59 |
| 12 Sept | 37.5 °C | 16 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 57 |
| 13 Sept | 37.7 °C | 16 % | 45 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 62 |
| 14 Sept | 37.7 °C | 17 % | 41 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 60 |
| 15 Sept | 38.0 °C | 17 % | 40 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 58 |
| 16 Sept | 38.6 °C | 15 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 49 |
| 17 Sept | 38.5 °C | 15 % | 33 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 55 |
| 18 Sept | 38.5 °C | 19 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 56 |
| 19 Sept | 37.3 °C | 22 % | 43 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 55 |
| 20 Sept | 38.1 °C | 15 % | 39 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 53 |
| 21 Sept | 38.8 °C | 12 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 54 |
| 22 Sept | 39.5 °C | 14 % | 28 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 50 |
| 23 Sept | 39.6 °C | 14 % | 32 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 24 Sept | 38.0 °C | 20 % | 20 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 25 Sept | 37.7 °C | 23 % | 24 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 26 Sept | 37.5 °C | 25 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 43 |
| 27 Sept | 38.0 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 45 |
| 28 Sept | 37.7 °C | 25 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 29 Sept | 38.3 °C | 20 % | 35 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 30 Sept | 38.2 °C | 19 % | 38 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 52 |
| 1 Oct | 37.3 °C | 24 % | 26 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 48 |
| 2 Oct | 39.0 °C | 18 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 3 Oct | 39.9 °C | 17 % | 22 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 44 |
| 4 Oct | 40.4 °C | 17 % | 23 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 46 |
| 5 Oct after | 39.6 °C | 23 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 47 |
| 6 Oct after | 39.5 °C | 17 % | 27 km/h | 0.0 mm | Extreme 50 |
| 7 Oct after | 36.8 °C | 31 % | 30 km/h | 0.0 mm | Very high 42 |
| 8 Oct after | 37.8 °C | 31 % | 27 km/h | 0.8 mm | High 33 |
| 9 Oct after | 37.5 °C | 30 % | 21 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 34 |
| 10 Oct after | 35.2 °C | 38 % | 29 km/h | 0.0 mm | High 37 |
| 11 Oct after | 34.6 °C | 37 % | 23 km/h | 1.3 mm | High 22 |
Before and after, from space
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
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 · CopernicusOn 24 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 104 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 61: 4.1 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
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 · 5,314Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.
| Date and time | Satellite | FRP (MW) | Lat | Lon |
|---|
Other fires nearby
- 26,986 haRibeirão CascalheiraSeptember 2026 · 18 days · 11 km away
- 24,982 haRibeirão CascalheiraAugust 2025 · 30 days · 11 km away
- 33,917 haCanarana8 August 2021 · 29 days · 12 km away
- 32,120 haCanaranaAugust 2017 · 25 days · 14 km away
- 31,942 haCanaranaSeptember 2020 · 21 days · 14 km away
- 27,401 haRibeirão Cascalheira5 August 2016 · 19 days · 15 km away
Frequently asked questions
- How long did the Ribeirão Cascalheira fire last?
- According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 6 August 2024 to 4 October 2024 (60 days). The perimeter dates it from 10 August 2024 to 29 September 2024.
- How much area did it burn?
- The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 116,965 hectares (1,169.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
- Which municipalities burned?
- The fire entered 2 municipalities: Ribeirão Cascalheira (88,467 ha, 7.7 %); Canarana (29,380 ha, 2.7 %).
- What was the weather like?
- During the fire the temperature reached 40.4 °C, humidity dropped to 12 % and gusts hit 48 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 62, 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 · Emergency number and official warnings ›
Satellite cross-check
History of this page · 2 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
- Last day with fire: 29 September 2024 → 4 October 2024.
- Start date: 10 August 2024 → 6 August 2024.
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
How we know this
- Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 5 polygons grouped in this page.
- Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 10 August 2024 to 29 September 2024. 5,314 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.
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.