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BO · Bolivia · –

San Ignacio fire, 28 October 2023 San Ignacio, Loreto

Out · last detection 22 Nov 2023, 17:52 UTC

The fire started on 28 October 2023 in San Ignacio, Bolivia, and satellites saw it burning for 26 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 24,159 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 36th largest in Beni since 2016 (of 859 with a page). Number 10 in Bolivia in 2023, of 247.

Burnt area
24,159ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
26days
28 Oct 2023 – 22 Nov 2023
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
28 Oct
2023
Heat detections
1,370
in a single hotspot: 204 MW
Danger at start
8
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
689MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 28 Oct22 Nov
22 Nov 2023

How it evolved, day by day

28 Oct 2023 · 109 MW · 15 30 Oct 2023 · 180 MW · 12 1 Nov 2023 · 26 MW · 4 2 Nov 2023 · 9 MW · 1 4 Nov 2023 · 114 MW · 18 5 Nov 2023 · 1,284 MW · 124 6 Nov 2023 · 476 MW · 56 7 Nov 2023 · 393 MW · 21 8 Nov 2023 · 126 MW · 12 9 Nov 2023 · 350 MW · 28 10 Nov 2023 · 623 MW · 56 11 Nov 2023 · 1,543 MW · 107 12 Nov 2023 · 3,089 MW · 168 13 Nov 2023 · 684 MW · 114 14 Nov 2023 · 1,113 MW · 68 15 Nov 2023 · 809 MW · 113 16 Nov 2023 · 894 MW · 113 17 Nov 2023 · 2,300 MW · 225 18 Nov 2023 · 910 MW · 87 20 Nov 2023 · 27 MW · 12 21 Nov 2023 · 30 MW · 10 22 Nov 2023 · 60 MW · 6
28 Oct 5 Nov 12 Nov 21 Nov

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

The weather it burned in

41°high
64km/h · peak gust
30%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 6.6 mm on 23 Nov.

This area had burned before

67% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 618 ha in 2016, 366 ha in 2017, 394 ha in 2018, 10,736 ha in 2019, 4,892 ha in 2020, 3,520 ha in 2021, 6,891 ha in 2022. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 16,235 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 15% of the area of London (242 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

  1. San Ignacio 21,584 inhabitants where it started
    14,184 ha reached on 28 Oct
    0.6 %
  2. Loreto 4,269 inhabitants
    10,151 ha reached on 5 Nov
    1.5 %

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 2025
Built-up area0.36 ha
Residents≈ 40

Inside the perimeter there were about 0.36 hectares of built-up land and about 40 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)

Started with Strong wind: 9.5 % of the area in Bolivia

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
28 Oct 34.4 °C 48 % 64 km/h 0.2 mm Low 8
29 Oct 31.8 °C 62 % 64 km/h 9.1 mm Moderate 15
30 Oct 36.7 °C 44 % 63 km/h 0.0 mm Low 7
31 Oct 31.8 °C 64 % 46 km/h 11.1 mm Very low 1
1 Nov 34.6 °C 50 % 43 km/h 5.2 mm Very low 2
2 Nov 36.8 °C 42 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
3 Nov 35.6 °C 47 % 38 km/h 5.3 mm Low 9
4 Nov 27.1 °C 44 % 37 km/h 2.5 mm Very low 2
5 Nov 34.8 °C 40 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Low 10
6 Nov 37.6 °C 41 % 21 km/h 0.1 mm Low 9
7 Nov 38.0 °C 38 % 29 km/h 0.2 mm Moderate 15
8 Nov 37.9 °C 45 % 38 km/h 0.8 mm Moderate 18
9 Nov 36.0 °C 51 % 30 km/h 2.5 mm Moderate 12
10 Nov 38.2 °C 41 % 40 km/h 0.3 mm Moderate 11
11 Nov 40.0 °C 30 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
12 Nov 39.4 °C 32 % 53 km/h 0.1 mm High 31
13 Nov 40.4 °C 32 % 50 km/h 1.0 mm High 29
14 Nov 38.3 °C 39 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
15 Nov 39.5 °C 34 % 50 km/h 2.0 mm High 30
16 Nov 39.5 °C 38 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
17 Nov 40.7 °C 30 % 59 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
18 Nov 40.4 °C 30 % 61 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
19 Nov 35.1 °C 42 % 34 km/h 10.1 mm Very low 2
20 Nov 28.4 °C 80 % 31 km/h 31.5 mm Very low 0
21 Nov 33.5 °C 58 % 50 km/h 3.4 mm Very low 0
22 Nov 34.1 °C 54 % 53 km/h 3.2 mm Very low 3
23 Nov after 37.3 °C 39 % 52 km/h 6.6 mm Low 8

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 8.2, a minimum humidity of 48% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 15.

FWI at the start 8.2
Minimum humidity 48 %
Days without rain 0
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Loreto fire, August 2022
6,618 ha 16 days FWI 7.4 Min. humidity 49 % 17 km away, in 2022

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 3.9 mm on 10 Sept.

What happened to them

10 days
median duration
8,337 ha
median area
20 %
went past 10,000 ha
9.5 mm
rain at the end (median; 15 of 15 had it)

It was 2.9 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 26 days, against 10 days.

None of its 15 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. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 9.5 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

6.6 mmfirst rain
23 Novthe day after it ended
64km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 22 Nov, and on 23 Nov 6.6 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 15 of 15, with a median of 9.5 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.

How we calculate it

Before and after, from space

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

Before · 21 Oct 2023
After · 29 Nov 2023

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 November 2023 the air beside the fire reached 252 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 134: 8.9 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak252 µg/m³
Days over the guideline20 days
PM10361 µg/m³
Optical depth3.06
2 Nov7 Nov12 Nov17 Nov22 Nov
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 · 1,370Every 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 timeSatelliteFRP (MW)LatLon

Other fires nearby

All fires in Bolivia

Frequently asked questions

How long did the San Ignacio fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 28 October 2023 to 22 November 2023 (26 days). The perimeter dates it from 4 November 2023 to 22 November 2023.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 24,159 hectares (241.6 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: San Ignacio (14,184 ha, 0.6 %); Loreto (10,151 ha, 1.5 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 40.7 °C, humidity dropped to 30 % and gusts hit 64 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 44, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Bolivia (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: 15. Their median duration was 10 days and their median area 8,337 ha; 20 % went past 10,000 ha. None of its 15 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. All of them had rain in the ten days after the end: the first rainy day brought a median of 9.5 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.

Emergency number: 119 · 110 · 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.
  1. Start date: 4 November 2023 → 28 October 2023.
  2. Start date: 28 October 2023 → 4 November 2023.

RSS Changes to this page With cross-checks and a citable version

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?

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 119 · 110.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 3 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 4 November 2023 to 22 November 2023. 1,370 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.

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 ADM3 (Public Domain). 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.