Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia fire, June 2017
Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia
Out · last measured on 21 Jun 2017
The fire started on 18 June 2017 in Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 4 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 238 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across a single freguesia.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
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Burned area
with caveats
238ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page238ICNF122
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
ICNF: 122 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +95.1%. 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
4days
18 Jun 2017 to 21 Jun 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
18 Jun 2017 – 21 Jun 2017
+− 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
18 Jun 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
18 Jun 2017
+− cross-check
The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Danger at the start
model
42.3FWI · very high
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 4.
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
36.4°C · 19% RH
High of 36.4 °C and minimum humidity of 19% on 18 June 2017; gusts of 42 km/h on 18 June 2017.
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.
ⓘ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 ICNF record
Nearby records with very different figures: 122 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
We have the Copernicus perimeter for this fire, but the VIIRS sensors did not capture it in enough detail: no day-by-day evolution, but the split by freguesia is there.
Burnt area
238ha
Copernicus perimeter
Duration
4days
18 Jun 2017 – 21 Jun 2017
Freguesias hit
1
freguesias
Started on
18 Jun
2017
Danger at start
42
Very high · FWI index
Where it burned
The weather it burned in
36°high
42km/h · peak gust
19%lowest humidity
It had gone 4 days without rain (1 mm or more) when it started. Rain came after the fire: 5.0 mm on 25 Jun.
This area had burned before
No earlier perimeters overlap this fire since 2016, when the satellite record begins.
Burnt area inside each freguesia, from crossing the official 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.
What burned
Other natural land47 %
Agricultural areas38 %
Scrub and transitional woodland16 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to ICNF, this fire started on 16 June 2017 and burned 122 ha (the satellite measured 238 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
TrancosoVila Garcia16 June 2017 · 15:18122 ha· extinguished on 16 June 2017· cause: negligence
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)
18 Jun
36.4 °C
19 %
42 km/h
0.4 mm
Very high 42
19 Jun
33.6 °C
26 %
40 km/h
1.9 mm
Very high 44
20 Jun
34.1 °C
25 %
18 km/h
0.0 mm
High 22
21 Jun
34.0 °C
24 %
38 km/h
0.0 mm
High 35
22 Jun after
31.8 °C
31 %
34 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
23 Jun after
30.6 °C
26 %
35 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
24 Jun after
28.3 °C
31 %
30 km/h
0.0 mm
High 34
25 Jun after
26.3 °C
43 %
42 km/h
5.0 mm
High 29
Its twins: fires that started in the same weather
It started with an FWI of 42.3, a minimum humidity of 19% and 4 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 27.
FWI at the start42.3
Minimum humidity19 %
Days without rain4
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia fire, June 2017
238 ha4 daysFWI 42.3Min. humidity 19 %
Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo fire, September 2017
584 ha1 dayFWI 37.6Min. humidity 19 %25 km away, in 2017
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: none in the following ten days.
It stayed below its twins: 238 ha against a median of 735 ha. It lasted 4 days, against 2 days.
In 16 of 27, 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 2.3 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
5.0 mmfirst rain
25 Jun4 days after it ended
42km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 21 Jun, and on 25 Jun 5.0 mm fell. We do not know whether the rain or the firefighters put it out. Twins with rain when they ended: 11 of 27, with a median of 2.3 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.
Drag the line to compare the same ground before the fire and after it.
↔
Before · 11 Jun 2017
After · 28 Jun 2017
Sentinel-2 did not pass over on that day. Try another date, or use false colour, which is daily.
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 22 June 2017 the air beside the fire reached 27 µg/m³ of PM2.5. That day averaged 20: 1.4 times the WHO daily guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak27µg/m³
Days over the guideline7days
PM1039µg/m³
WHO 15
16 Jun18 Jun20 Jun22 Jun24 Jun
GoodFairModeratePoorVery poorExtremely 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)
How long did the Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia fire last?
Copernicus dates it between 18 June 2017 and 21 June 2017: 4 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 238 hectares (2.4 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire only entered Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia (238 ha, 12 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Vale do Seixo e Vila Garcia and came within 0.6 km of its centre. That is the distance from the perimeter, or the nearest hotspot, to the point marking the centre; it does not mean it entered the houses.
What was the weather like?
During the fire the temperature reached 36.4 °C, humidity dropped to 19 % and gusts hit 42 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 44, class Very high.
Where does this data come from?
From the EFFIS (Copernicus) burnt perimeter, NASA FIRMS VIIRS hotspots and the administrative boundaries of Portugal (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: 27. Their median duration was 2 days and their median area 735 ha; 37 % went past 1,000 ha. In 16 of 27, 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 2.3 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.
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: EFFIS (Copernicus), mapped on satellite imagery.
Dates from the perimeter: the VIIRS detections inside it did not change them. No Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 122 official ha against 238 ha of perimeter; similar, but with reservations.
Weather: Copernicus ERA5 reanalysis at the fire location, in cells of about 25 km.
The perimeter and land cover come from the Copernicus European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), measured on MODIS and Sentinel-2 imagery and published under CC BY 4.0. Heat detections come from the VIIRS sensors aboard Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20, distributed by NASA FIRMS at 375 m resolution. Freguesia boundaries come from geoBoundaries ADM3 (CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication). The area per freguesia is computed by WorldFires by crossing the perimeter with those boundaries, so it may differ slightly from each country’s official figure.