Vila Nova de Foz Côa fire, July 2017
Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Freixo de Numão, Seixas
Out · last detection 19 Jul 2017, 02:24 UTC
The fire started on 17 July 2017 in Freixo de Numão, Portugal, and satellites saw it burning for 3 days. Copernicus mapped a burnt perimeter of 2,526 hectares from satellite imagery, spread across 3 freguesias.
It is the largest fire in Vila Nova de Foz Côa since 2016 (of 10 with a page). Number 29 in Portugal in 2017, of 211.
matches the official recordwith caveatssatellite onlymodel
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Tick the figures you want: they make up the lede and the CSV.
Burned area
with caveats
2,526ha
Perimeter published by EFFIS (Copernicus).
This page2,526ICNF1,712
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus)
Date
perimeter revised on 26 January 2022
+− cross-check
ICNF: 1,712 ha (matched records: 1). Difference between the page and the official record: +47.5%. 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
3days
17 Jul 2017 to 19 Jul 2017: first and last day with fire on the page.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
last detection: 19 Jul 2017, 02:24 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
17 Jul 2017
First day with fire seen by the satellites or the perimeter.
Source
EFFIS (Copernicus) · NASA FIRMS · VIIRS
Date
17 Jul 2017
+− 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
43
VIIRS detections at 375 m. Most intense hotspot: 406 MW.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (Suomi NPP)
Date
17 Jul 2017 – 19 Jul 2017
+− 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
3,578MW
Total radiative power on 17 July 2017; hotspots that day: 16.
Source
NASA FIRMS · VIIRS (FRP)
Date
17 Jul 2017
+− 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
50.7FWI · extreme
Fire Weather Index (Canadian system) computed by WorldFires for the day the fire started. Consecutive days without rain before: 10.
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
33.9°C · 15% RH
High of 33.9 °C and minimum humidity of 15% on 17 July 2017; gusts of 44 km/h on 18 July 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: 1,712 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 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 land44 %
Agricultural areas42 %
Sclerophyllous scrub11 %
Scrub and transitional woodland2.8 %
Land cover inside the perimeter according to Corine Land Cover, as reported by Copernicus.
Official record
According to ICNF, this fire started on 16 July 2017 and burned 1,712 ha (the satellite measured 2,526 ha). The two figures differ a lot, so these may not be exactly the same fire: take them as nearby records.
Vila Nova de Foz CôaMurça16 July 2017 · 18:481,712 ha· extinguished on 17 July 2017· cause: arson
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)
It started with an FWI of 50.7, a minimum humidity of 15% and 10 days without rain. Fires in the area that started in weather like this since 2016: 32.
FWI at the start50.7
Minimum humidity15 %
Days without rain10
this firechosen twinsrest of the area
Almost identicalSimilar
Outlines of the closest twins
This fire · Vila Nova de Foz Côa fire, July 2017
2,526 ha3 daysFWI 50.7Min. humidity 15 %
Bragança fire, July 2022
192 ha1 dayFWI 53.9Min. humidity 16 %102 km away, in 2022
First rain (1 mm or more) after it ended: 2.1 mm on 16 Jul.
It was 4.4 times larger than the median of its twins and lasted 3 days, against 3 days.
Only 10 of its 32 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 19 of 32, 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 2.1 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
44km/h · max. gust
It was considered over on 19 Jul, and not even 1 mm fell in the following ten days: it went out without rain. Twins with rain when they ended: 13 of 32, with a median of 2.1 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 · 10 Jul 2017
After · 26 Jul 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 18 July 2017 the air beside the fire reached 17 µg/m³ of PM2.5, but no daily average passed the WHO guideline (15).
PM2.5 peak17µg/m³
Days over the guideline0days
PM1024µg/m³
WHO 15
15 Jul17 Jul19 Jul21 Jul
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)
Detections table· 43Every satellite heat detection, one by one, with time, satellite, power and coordinates.›
⬇ Download CSVTimes in UTC. Each detection is a 375 m pixel: a large fire yields hundreds per pass.
Copernicus dates it between 17 July 2017 and 19 July 2017: 3 days between the first and last image with fire.
How much area did it burn?
The perimeter Copernicus measured from satellite imagery is 2,526 hectares (25.3 km²). Official national figures may differ.
Which freguesias burned?
The fire entered 3 freguesias: Vila Nova de Foz Côa (1,353 ha, 15 %); Freixo de Numão (1,149 ha, 32 %); Seixas (26 ha, 2.1 %).
Did the fire reach a town?
The fire started in Freixo de Numão and came within 1.0 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 33.9 °C, humidity dropped to 15 % and gusts hit 44 km/h. The fire danger index (FWI) reached 52, class Extreme.
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: 32. Their median duration was 3 days and their median area 578 ha; 41 % went past 1,000 ha. Only 10 of its 32 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 19 of 32, 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 2.1 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. 43 Suomi-NPP VIIRS detections on those dates.
Compared with ICNF: 1,712 official ha against 2,526 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.