Skip to content
worldfires
BO · Bolivia · –

San Javier fire, July 2019 San Javier

Out · last detection 10 Aug 2019, 18:36 UTC

The fire started on 26 July 2019 in San Javier, Bolivia, and satellites saw it burning for 16 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 3,522 hectares from heat detections, spread across a single municipality.

It is the 676th largest in Beni since 2016 (of 859 with a page). Number 184 in Bolivia in 2019, of 218.

Burnt area
3,522ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
16days
26 Jul 2019 – 10 Aug 2019
Municipalities hit
1
municipalities
Started on
26 Jul
2019
Heat detections
165
in a single hotspot: 91 MW
Danger at start
6
Low · FWI index
Average daily power
147MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 26 Jul10 Aug
10 Aug 2019

How it evolved, day by day

26 Jul 2019 · 2 MW · 1 27 Jul 2019 · 9 MW · 1 29 Jul 2019 · 1,196 MW · 71 30 Jul 2019 · 116 MW · 61 31 Jul 2019 · 13 MW · 8 1 Aug 2019 · 203 MW · 4 2 Aug 2019 · 9 MW · 4 3 Aug 2019 · 4 MW · 6 5 Aug 2019 · 43 MW · 5 6 Aug 2019 · 2 MW · 1 10 Aug 2019 · 18 MW · 3
29 Jul 2 Aug 6 Aug

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

The weather it burned in

33°high
53km/h · peak gust
17%lowest humidity

It had gone 0 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started.

This area had burned before

67% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 9 ha in 2017, 4,195 ha in 2018. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 2,368 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 2.2% of the area of London (35 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 Javier 7,913 inhabitants where it started
    3,544 ha reached on 26 Jul
    0.4 %

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 2020
Built-up area4.4 ha
Residents≈ 450

Inside the perimeter there were about 4.4 hectares of built-up land and about 450 residents (GHSL 2020, 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.

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)
26 Jul 22.8 °C 54 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Low 6
27 Jul 24.9 °C 48 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
28 Jul 29.9 °C 46 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 11
29 Jul 30.9 °C 46 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 13
30 Jul 32.3 °C 46 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
31 Jul 33.0 °C 43 % 17 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 12
1 Aug 33.0 °C 41 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
2 Aug 26.8 °C 17 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm High 26
3 Aug 22.6 °C 17 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 30
4 Aug 24.5 °C 24 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
5 Aug 26.4 °C 27 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm High 27
6 Aug 29.8 °C 32 % 19 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 21
7 Aug 32.4 °C 37 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
8 Aug 33.0 °C 41 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm High 23
9 Aug 32.6 °C 47 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm High 22
10 Aug 27.9 °C 51 % 28 km/h 0.1 mm High 22
11 Aug after 32.2 °C 43 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 18
12 Aug after 33.8 °C 42 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Moderate 20
13 Aug after 29.0 °C 28 % 50 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
14 Aug after 26.1 °C 28 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 37
15 Aug after 29.9 °C 32 % 25 km/h 0.0 mm High 28
16 Aug after 33.5 °C 36 % 21 km/h 0.0 mm High 25
17 Aug after 33.9 °C 38 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm High 38
18 Aug after 34.2 °C 45 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm High 29
19 Aug after 29.1 °C 57 % 26 km/h 0.2 mm High 23
20 Aug after 30.7 °C 41 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 25

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 5.9, a minimum humidity of 54% and rain the day before. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 23.

FWI at the start 5.9
Minimum humidity 54 %
Days without rain 0
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Magdalena fire, October 2016
4,011 ha 8 days FWI 5.8 Min. humidity 54 % 191 km away, in 2016

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 27.5 mm on 21 Oct.

What happened to them

9 days
median duration
4,031 ha
median area
9 %
went past 10,000 ha
7.5 mm
rain at the end (median; 21 of 23 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (3,522 ha against a median of 4,031 ha) and lasted 16 days, against 9 days.

In 2 of 23, 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 7.5 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

—first rain
—no rain in ten days
53km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 10 Aug, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 21 of 23, with a median of 7.5 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 · 19 Jul 2019
After · 17 Aug 2019

If the day is cloudy, change the date: each satellite passes once a day. In false colour the burnt ground looks brown or red.

Detections table · 165Every 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 Javier fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 26 July 2019 to 10 August 2019 (16 days). The perimeter dates it from 29 July 2019 to 3 August 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 3,522 hectares (35.2 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire only entered San Javier (3,544 ha, 0.4 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 33.0 °C, humidity dropped to 17 % and gusts hit 53 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 34, class 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: 23. Their median duration was 9 days and their median area 4,031 ha; 9 % went past 10,000 ha. In 2 of 23, 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 7.5 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. Last day with fire: 3 August 2019 → 10 August 2019.
  2. Start date: 29 July 2019 → 26 July 2019.

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.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 29 July 2019 to 3 August 2019. 165 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 2020, 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.