Wildfire near Cauto Cristo, Cuba (2026)

Wildfire near Cauto Cristo — Sentinel-2 true color

Wildfire near Cauto Cristo — 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 10 km northeast of Cauto Cristo.

Summary written on Aug 16, while the fire was still active. It has since ended — the figures above are current.

Burning near the municipality of Cauto Cristo in Cuba, an active wildfire has expanded to cover 200 hectares, or roughly 494 acres, since it started on August 15, 2026. Satellites monitoring the incident are currently picking up a moderate heat signature from the front, alongside eight distinct heat detections clustered nearby over the past 48 hours, illustrating the current spread of the fire.

This ongoing blaze coincides with the region's typical fire season, which generally spans the warm, dry months from roughly May to October.

In context

This wildfire burned in Cuba for 2 days. In total it burned about 200 ha (494 acres) — around 2.0 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.