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Santa Rita do Tocantins fire, August 2024 Santa Rita do Tocantins, Dueré

Out · last detection 30 Sept 2024, 16:43 UTC

The fire started on 23 August 2024 in Santa Rita do Tocantins, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 39 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 9,095 hectares from heat detections, spread across 2 municipalities.

It is the 204th largest in Tocantins since 2016 (of 1036 with a page). Number 359 in Brazil in 2024, of 1301.

Burnt area
9,095ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
39days
23 Aug 2024 – 30 Sept 2024
Municipalities hit
2
municipalities
Started on
23 Aug
2024
Heat detections
481
in a single hotspot: 74 MW
Danger at start
66
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
175MW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 23 Aug30 Sept
30 Sept 2024

How it evolved, day by day

23 Aug 2024 · 6 MW · 1 25 Aug 2024 · 24 MW · 3 27 Aug 2024 · 18 MW · 1 28 Aug 2024 · 112 MW · 12 29 Aug 2024 · 51 MW · 9 30 Aug 2024 · 21 MW · 4 31 Aug 2024 · 20 MW · 3 1 Sept 2024 · 69 MW · 6 2 Sept 2024 · 163 MW · 15 3 Sept 2024 · 494 MW · 28 4 Sept 2024 · 160 MW · 11 5 Sept 2024 · 666 MW · 25 6 Sept 2024 · 194 MW · 33 7 Sept 2024 · 376 MW · 24 8 Sept 2024 · 236 MW · 8 9 Sept 2024 · 38 MW · 7 10 Sept 2024 · 126 MW · 8 11 Sept 2024 · 44 MW · 2 12 Sept 2024 · 15 MW · 4 13 Sept 2024 · 210 MW · 13 14 Sept 2024 · 431 MW · 22 15 Sept 2024 · 962 MW · 58 16 Sept 2024 · 195 MW · 28 17 Sept 2024 · 367 MW · 35 18 Sept 2024 · 125 MW · 11 19 Sept 2024 · 258 MW · 31 20 Sept 2024 · 212 MW · 14 21 Sept 2024 · 58 MW · 12 22 Sept 2024 · 38 MW · 10 23 Sept 2024 · 277 MW · 18 24 Sept 2024 · 68 MW · 14 25 Sept 2024 · 53 MW · 5 26 Sept 2024 · 2 MW · 2 27 Sept 2024 · 29 MW · 3 30 Sept 2024 · 18 MW · 1
23 Aug 1 Sept 8 Sept 15 Sept 22 Sept

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

The weather it burned in

42°high
49km/h · peak gust
10%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 1.6 mm on 6 Oct.

This area had burned before

93% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 2,326 ha in 2016, 6,656 ha in 2017, 539 ha in 2018, 5,165 ha in 2019, 2,547 ha in 2020, 2,488 ha in 2021, 131 ha in 2022, 388 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 8,451 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 5.7% of the area of London (91 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. Santa Rita do Tocantins 2,219 inhabitants where it started
    9,674 ha reached on 23 Aug
    2.9 %
  2. Dueré 4,248 inhabitants
    3 ha reached on 8 Sept
    0.0 %

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 area< 0.1 ha
Residents< 20

Inside the perimeter there was no noticeable built-up land and almost nobody lived there (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 60 days without rain: 55 % of the area in Brazil

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
23 Aug 37.5 °C 19 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
24 Aug 37.8 °C 15 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
25 Aug 38.1 °C 18 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
26 Aug 37.4 °C 21 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 46
27 Aug 39.1 °C 16 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
28 Aug 37.8 °C 21 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
29 Aug 35.5 °C 22 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
30 Aug 36.1 °C 27 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 61
31 Aug 36.8 °C 21 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
1 Sept 37.8 °C 20 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
2 Sept 37.7 °C 16 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
3 Sept 38.7 °C 11 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
4 Sept 39.8 °C 11 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
5 Sept 39.5 °C 11 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 70
6 Sept 39.3 °C 10 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 76
7 Sept 39.2 °C 14 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 75
8 Sept 38.8 °C 15 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
9 Sept 38.0 °C 19 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 73
10 Sept 38.3 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
11 Sept 38.5 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 74
12 Sept 38.6 °C 19 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
13 Sept 39.2 °C 15 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
14 Sept 39.1 °C 14 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 70
15 Sept 39.5 °C 13 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
16 Sept 40.1 °C 14 % 20 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
17 Sept 41.6 °C 12 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
18 Sept 40.2 °C 17 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
19 Sept 39.2 °C 17 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 78
20 Sept 39.8 °C 14 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 80
21 Sept 40.4 °C 11 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
22 Sept 40.1 °C 18 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
23 Sept 41.4 °C 12 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
24 Sept 38.4 °C 23 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
25 Sept 36.9 °C 33 % 24 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
26 Sept 38.0 °C 27 % 30 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
27 Sept 39.0 °C 23 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
28 Sept 38.8 °C 26 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 41
29 Sept 40.0 °C 22 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
30 Sept 39.4 °C 23 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
1 Oct after 38.1 °C 26 % 22 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
2 Oct after 38.4 °C 21 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 52
3 Oct after 41.0 °C 12 % 23 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
4 Oct after 39.1 °C 23 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 59
5 Oct after 40.3 °C 21 % 26 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 47
6 Oct after 37.3 °C 36 % 32 km/h 1.6 mm Extreme 50

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 65.6, a minimum humidity of 19% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 30.

FWI at the start 65.6
Minimum humidity 19 %
Days without rain 60+
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Dueré fire, August 2022
8,352 ha 23 days FWI 64.5 Min. humidity 19 % 12 km away, in 2022

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.0 mm on 21 Sept.

What happened to them

11 days
median duration
7,118 ha
median area
33 %
went past 10,000 ha
2.4 mm
rain at the end (median; 16 of 30 had it)

It burned an area similar to its twins (9,095 ha against a median of 7,118 ha) and lasted 39 days, against 11 days.

In 14 of 30, 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 2.4 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

1.6 mmfirst rain
6 Oct6 days after it ended
49km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 30 Sept, and on 6 Oct 1.6 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 16 of 30, with a median of 2.4 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 · 16 Aug 2024
After · 7 Oct 2024

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 25 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 67 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 42: 2.8 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak67 µg/m³
Days over the guideline10 days
PM1097 µg/m³
Optical depth0.96
23 Aug31 Aug8 Sept16 Sept24 Sept
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 · 481Every 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 Brazil

Frequently asked questions

How long did the Santa Rita do Tocantins fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 23 August 2024 to 30 September 2024 (39 days). The perimeter dates it from 25 August 2024 to 27 September 2024.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 9,095 hectares (91.0 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 2 municipalities: Santa Rita do Tocantins (9,674 ha, 2.9 %); Dueré (3 ha, 0.0 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 41.6 °C, humidity dropped to 10 % and gusts hit 49 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 80, class Very 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.
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: 30. Their median duration was 11 days and their median area 7,118 ha; 33 % went past 10,000 ha. In 14 of 30, 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 2.4 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: 193 · Emergency number and official warnings

Satellite cross-check

History of this page · 3 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Area: 9,615 → 9,095 ha.
  2. Last day with fire: 27 September 2024 → 30 September 2024.
  3. Start date: 25 August 2024 → 23 August 2024.

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 193.

How we know this
  • Perimeter: GWIS (Copernicus), rebuilt from heat detections rather than mapped on imagery; 2 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 25 August 2024 to 27 September 2024. 481 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 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.