Wildfire near Balsas (Aug 2), Brazil (2026)

Wildfire near Balsas (Aug 2) — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Balsas (Aug 2) — Sentinel-2 SWIR (fuego)

True view Fire view

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True view (left): as the eye sees it.
Fire view (right): infrared (SWIR), sees through smoke and brings out the heat.

🟢 green = vegetation
🟤 brown = already burned
🟠 orange = fire right now

Drag to compare: normal photo on the left, heat brought out on the right.

Green: vegetationBrown: already burnedOrange: fire right nowSentinel-2 · Copernicus

The story so far

About 20 km east of Balsas.

Summary written on Aug 2, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

An intense heat signature is being picked up by satellites over an active wildfire burning near Balsas, Brazil. Spanning 400 hectares, or 988 acres, the fire front is releasing significant energy as it burns. Monitoring systems have detected 16 heat signatures nearby over the 48-hour window, mapping the local cluster of thermal activity surrounding the incident.

First reported on August 1, 2026, the fire is progressing during a region's typical fire season, which spans from August to October. Despite active blazes such as this one, national figures show that 2,104,476 hectares have burned across the country so far in 2026, marking a total that sits 93% below the two-decade average for the same period.

In context

This wildfire burned in Brazil for 2 days. In total it burned about 400 ha (988 acres) — around 4.0 km². That size is an estimate from satellite hotspots, not a measured area.

Close to the tropics, fires tend to follow the dry season and are often linked to land-clearing rather than a single summer peak.