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BR · Brazil · –

Sapezal fire, July 2024 Sapezal, Tangará da Serra, Campo Novo do Parecis

Out · last detection 17 Sept 2024, 17:27 UTC

The fire started on 31 July 2024 in Sapezal, Brazil, and satellites saw it burning for 49 days. Copernicus’s global GWIS system rebuilt a burnt perimeter of 94,745 hectares from heat detections, spread across 3 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:

It is the 18th largest in Mato Grosso since 2016 (of 1872 with a page). Number 22 in Brazil in 2024, of 1301.

Burnt area
94,745ha
GWIS perimeter (Copernicus)
Duration
49days
31 Jul 2024 – 17 Sept 2024
Municipalities hit
3
municipalities
Started on
31 Jul
2024
Heat detections
3,749
in a single hotspot: 383 MW
Danger at start
50
Extreme · FWI index
Average daily power
2.1GW
detected power per day, on average

Where it burned

HOTSPOTS BY DAY 31 Jul17 Sept
17 Sept 2024

How it evolved, day by day

31 Jul 2024 · 10 MW · 1 1 Aug 2024 · 76 MW · 3 4 Aug 2024 · 117 MW · 6 5 Aug 2024 · 3,988 MW · 64 6 Aug 2024 · 7,104 MW · 250 7 Aug 2024 · 2,739 MW · 93 8 Aug 2024 · 361 MW · 11 9 Aug 2024 · 19 MW · 5 10 Aug 2024 · 70 MW · 12 11 Aug 2024 · 3,365 MW · 90 12 Aug 2024 · 8,210 MW · 158 13 Aug 2024 · 3,157 MW · 81 14 Aug 2024 · 3,491 MW · 164 15 Aug 2024 · 7,680 MW · 174 16 Aug 2024 · 1,921 MW · 159 17 Aug 2024 · 1,273 MW · 98 18 Aug 2024 · 2,318 MW · 86 19 Aug 2024 · 684 MW · 31 20 Aug 2024 · 3,981 MW · 173 21 Aug 2024 · 13,690 MW · 366 22 Aug 2024 · 3,663 MW · 147 23 Aug 2024 · 1,864 MW · 110 24 Aug 2024 · 1,739 MW · 113 25 Aug 2024 · 931 MW · 89 26 Aug 2024 · 2,459 MW · 160 27 Aug 2024 · 1,351 MW · 147 28 Aug 2024 · 2,010 MW · 66 29 Aug 2024 · 509 MW · 32 30 Aug 2024 · 248 MW · 41 31 Aug 2024 · 241 MW · 35 1 Sept 2024 · 677 MW · 70 2 Sept 2024 · 962 MW · 67 3 Sept 2024 · 2,002 MW · 97 4 Sept 2024 · 215 MW · 27 5 Sept 2024 · 1,505 MW · 89 6 Sept 2024 · 6,796 MW · 107 7 Sept 2024 · 1,546 MW · 106 8 Sept 2024 · 2,406 MW · 51 9 Sept 2024 · 2,910 MW · 80 10 Sept 2024 · 166 MW · 26 11 Sept 2024 · 204 MW · 45 12 Sept 2024 · 2 MW · 1 13 Sept 2024 · 40 MW · 7 14 Sept 2024 · 43 MW · 3 15 Sept 2024 · 1 MW · 1 16 Sept 2024 · 48 MW · 3 17 Sept 2024 · 15 MW · 4
31 Jul 12 Aug 21 Aug 1 Sept 11 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

36°high
55km/h · peak gust
14%lowest humidity

It had gone more than two months without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 3.6 mm on 26 Sept.

This area had burned before

15% of the perimeter overlaps earlier fires recorded since 2016: 6,820 ha in 2016, 501 ha in 2017, 1,507 ha in 2018, 905 ha in 2020, 3,419 ha in 2021, 1,987 ha in 2022, 815 ha in 2023. Part of it burned more than once, so the yearly figures add up to more than the 14,128 ha that had burned before.

How big is it?

10 km
It burned the equivalent of 60% of the area of London (947 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. Sapezal 28,944 inhabitants where it started
    65,734 ha reached on 31 Jul
    4.8 %
  2. Tangará da Serra 106,434 inhabitants
    29,129 ha reached on 14 Aug
    2.5 %
  3. Campo Novo do Parecis 45,899 inhabitants
    2,056 ha reached on 27 Aug
    0.2 %

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.

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 Extreme FWI: 46 % of the area in Brazil 60 days without rain: 55 % of the area in Brazil

Day High Min. humidity Peak gust Rain Danger (FWI)
31 Jul 33.4 °C 19 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 50
1 Aug 33.7 °C 16 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
2 Aug 32.9 °C 20 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 66
3 Aug 32.7 °C 24 % 47 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
4 Aug 32.9 °C 23 % 45 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 68
5 Aug 32.0 °C 22 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
6 Aug 31.5 °C 18 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
7 Aug 31.6 °C 25 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
8 Aug 31.4 °C 30 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
9 Aug 20.3 °C 60 % 49 km/h 0.0 mm High 34
10 Aug 25.8 °C 28 % 48 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 42
11 Aug 30.5 °C 22 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 35
12 Aug 28.1 °C 21 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
13 Aug 30.9 °C 17 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
14 Aug 33.6 °C 19 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
15 Aug 34.5 °C 22 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
16 Aug 33.0 °C 32 % 35 km/h 0.2 mm Extreme 53
17 Aug 34.7 °C 24 % 32 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 53
18 Aug 35.3 °C 15 % 38 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
19 Aug 34.8 °C 21 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
20 Aug 35.1 °C 15 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
21 Aug 34.7 °C 17 % 42 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 67
22 Aug 34.3 °C 21 % 37 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
23 Aug 34.1 °C 24 % 28 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
24 Aug 29.0 °C 43 % 44 km/h 0.3 mm Extreme 54
25 Aug 21.4 °C 47 % 55 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 49
26 Aug 26.9 °C 27 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 43
27 Aug 31.9 °C 22 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
28 Aug 34.2 °C 18 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
29 Aug 35.4 °C 19 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
30 Aug 34.2 °C 18 % 44 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
31 Aug 34.4 °C 18 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
1 Sept 33.1 °C 25 % 43 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 65
2 Sept 34.4 °C 16 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 55
3 Sept 35.3 °C 20 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 69
4 Sept 33.9 °C 28 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 56
5 Sept 30.6 °C 33 % 53 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 63
6 Sept 34.7 °C 14 % 33 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 57
7 Sept 35.4 °C 16 % 39 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 77
8 Sept 35.4 °C 15 % 31 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
9 Sept 36.2 °C 15 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 64
10 Sept 35.7 °C 17 % 41 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 72
11 Sept 34.2 °C 25 % 46 km/h 0.0 mm Very extreme 71
12 Sept 34.6 °C 25 % 36 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 58
13 Sept 34.8 °C 27 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 60
14 Sept 33.3 °C 31 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
15 Sept 29.9 °C 41 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm High 31
16 Sept 29.1 °C 46 % 41 km/h 0.6 mm Very high 41
17 Sept 33.8 °C 30 % 29 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 40
18 Sept after 35.2 °C 29 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 48
19 Sept after 33.3 °C 37 % 44 km/h 0.1 mm Extreme 56
20 Sept after 34.9 °C 31 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
21 Sept after 35.8 °C 24 % 27 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
22 Sept after 35.4 °C 26 % 35 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 53
23 Sept after 35.8 °C 27 % 34 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 51
24 Sept after 34.8 °C 30 % 32 km/h 0.0 mm Very high 44
25 Sept after 36.6 °C 26 % 40 km/h 0.0 mm Extreme 54
26 Sept after 33.2 °C 42 % 31 km/h 3.6 mm Very high 42

Its twins: fires that started in the same weather

It started with an FWI of 50.0, a minimum humidity of 19% and more than two months without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 20.

FWI at the start 50.0
Minimum humidity 19 %
Days without rain 60+
this fire chosen twins rest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar

Outlines of the closest twins

Tangará da Serra fire, September 2020
6,200 ha 11 days FWI 51.5 Min. humidity 19 % 93 km away, in 2020

First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 1.2 mm on 23 Sept.

What happened to them

12 days
median duration
4,576 ha
median area
10 %
went past 10,000 ha
2.0 mm
rain at the end (median; 17 of 20 had it)

It was 20.7 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 49 days, against 12 days.

None of its 20 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. In 3 of 20, 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 2.0 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

3.6 mmfirst rain
26 Sept9 days after it ended
55km/h · max. gust

It was considered over on 17 Sept, and on 26 Sept 3.6 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 17 of 20, with a median of 2.0 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 · 24 Jul 2024
After · 24 Sept 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 9 September 2024 the air beside the fire reached 232 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 144: 9.6 times the WHO daily guideline (15).

PM2.5 peak232 µg/m³
Days over the guideline33 days
PM10332 µg/m³
Optical depth4.19
2 Aug12 Aug22 Aug1 Sept11 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 · 3,749Every 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 Sapezal fire last?
According to the heat detections seen by satellite inside the perimeter, it burned from 31 July 2024 to 17 September 2024 (49 days). The perimeter dates it from 4 August 2024 to 13 September 2024.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter GWIS (Copernicus) rebuilt from heat detections is 94,745 hectares (947.4 km²). It is an estimate: official national figures may differ.
Which municipalities burned?
The fire entered 3 municipalities: Sapezal (65,734 ha, 4.8 %); Tangará da Serra (29,129 ha, 2.5 %); Campo Novo do Parecis (2,056 ha, 0.2 %).
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.2 °C, humidity dropped to 14 % and gusts hit 55 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 77, 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: 20. Their median duration was 12 days and their median area 4,576 ha; 10 % went past 10,000 ha. None of its 20 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. In 3 of 20, 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 2.0 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 · 6 Changes in area, dates, name, official record or merged pages, compared every night since 24 October 2026.
  1. Last day with fire: 13 September 2024 → 17 September 2024.
  2. Start date: 4 August 2024 → 31 July 2024.
  3. Last day with fire: 17 September 2024 → 13 September 2024.
  4. Start date: 31 July 2024 → 4 August 2024.
  5. Last day with fire: 13 September 2024 → 17 September 2024.
  6. Start date: 4 August 2024 → 31 July 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; 5 polygons grouped in this page.
  • Dates adjusted with the VIIRS detections inside the perimeter, which said 4 August 2024 to 13 September 2024. 3,749 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.

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.