San Luis fire, August 2019
San Luis, Guamo, Coello
Out · last detection 31 Aug 2019, 06:05 UTC
The fire started on 26 August 2019 in San Luis, Colombia, and satellites saw it burning for 6 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 2,634 hectares from heat detections, spread across 4 municipalities.
Number 49 in Colombia in 2019, of 131.
The power measured by the satellite is low (20.6 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
with caveats
2,634ha
Perimeter published by GWIS (Copernicus).
This page2,634UNGRD1,600
Source
GWIS (Copernicus)
Date
26 Aug 2019 – 31 Aug 2019
+− cross-check
UNGRD: 1,600 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +64.6%. Matched on 8 November 2026. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Duration by satellite
satellite only
6days
26 Aug 2019 to 31 Aug 2019: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 31 Aug 2019, 06:05 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
satellite only
26 Aug 2019
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
GWIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
26 Aug 2019
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Hotspots
satellite only
71
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 21 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
26 Aug 2019 – 31 Aug 2019
+− 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
319MW
Total radiative power on 29 August 2019; hotspots that day: 38.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
29 Aug 2019
+− 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
41.9FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 29.
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
36.0°C · 24% RH
High of 36.0 °C and minimum humidity of 24% on 29 August 2019; gusts of 44 km/h on 28 August 2019.
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.
Living inside
model
≈ 350people
Estimated residents inside the perimeter and 3.6 ha of built-up area (100 m grid, epoch 2020).
Source
GHSL R2023A · JRC
Date
calculated on 24 October 2026
+− cross-check
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.
ⓘ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
· reconstructedofficial
Matched with the official UNGRD record
Nearby records with very different figures: 1,600 ha (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 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 area3.6ha
Residents≈ 350
Inside the perimeter there were about 3.6 hectares of built-up land and about 350 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.
According to UNGRD, a fire of 1,600 ha was recorded in San Luis on 28 August 2019 (the satellite measured 2,634 ha). The record has no coordinates, so it was matched by municipality and date. The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
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 Aug
35.0 °C
28 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 42
27 Aug
35.4 °C
25 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
Extreme 50
28 Aug
33.5 °C
37 %
44 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
29 Aug
36.0 °C
24 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 46
30 Aug
35.7 °C
26 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
31 Aug
34.2 °C
34 %
34 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 38
1 Sept after
36.2 °C
27 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
2 Sept after
33.9 °C
31 %
33 km/h
0.0 mm
High 33
3 Sept after
37.2 °C
23 %
37 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 45
4 Sept after
35.4 °C
30 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
High 37
5 Sept after
37.3 °C
25 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 45
6 Sept after
36.2 °C
26 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
High 38
7 Sept after
37.9 °C
19 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 45
8 Sept after
36.2 °C
22 %
33 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 47
9 Sept after
36.2 °C
28 %
36 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 46
10 Sept after
35.5 °C
30 %
32 km/h
0.0 mm
Very high 44
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 41.9, a minimum humidity of 28% and 29 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 5.
FWI at the start41.9
Minimum humidity28 %
Days without rain29
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · San Luis fire, August 2019
2,634 ha6 daysFWI 41.9Min. humidity 28 %
Natagaima fire, September 2024
3,704 ha11 daysFWI 39.0Min. humidity 25 %70 km away, in 2024
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 6.5 mm on 27 Sept.
Fires in the area that started in similar weather: 5. With fewer than 15 we give no figures: they would be more noise than signal.
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
44km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 31 Aug, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain.
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.
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 26 August 2019 to 31 August 2019 (6 days). The perimeter dates it from 29 August 2019 to 31 August 2019.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 2,634 hectares (26.3 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 4 municipalities: San Luis (1,469 ha, 3.5 %); Guamo (907 ha, 1.8 %); Coello (157 ha, 0.4 %); Espinal (120 ha, 0.6 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.0 °C, humidity dropped to 24 % and gusts hit 44 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 50, class Extreme.
Where does this data come from?
From the GWIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Colombia (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.
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: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery.
Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 29 August 2019 to 31 August 2019. 71 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with UNGRD: 1,600 official ha against 2,634 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
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.
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 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)). 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.